Slashdot Mirror


Anonymous Anger Rampant On the Web

the4thdimension writes "In a story that may bring out the 'duh' in you, CNN has a story about how anonymous anger is rampant on the Internet. Citing various reasons, it attempts to explain why sites like MyBiggestComplaint and Just Rage exist and why anger via the web seems to be everywhere. Various reasons include: anonymity, lack of rules, and lack of immediate consequences. Whatever the reason, they describe that online anger has resulted in real-life violence and suggest methods for parents and teens to cope with e-aggression and to learn to be aware of it." I can't figure out what makes me angrier: my habit of anonymously trolling web forums, or my video game playing.

399 comments

  1. Let Me Offer a Lemma on This Subject ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    FUCK YOU!

    1. Re:Let Me Offer a Lemma on This Subject ... by Bomarc · · Score: 0, Redundant

      And I'll bet that most of them played video games as a child.

    2. Re:Let Me Offer a Lemma on This Subject ... by elthicko · · Score: 1

      You, sir, need some e-anger-management. Hey, you may even run into Ballmer.

    3. Re:Let Me Offer a Lemma on This Subject ... by electrictroy · · Score: 1

      >>>>>>>[expletive] YOU!

      >>"lack of immediate consequences"

      Is there any way I can track down this person's physical address? I have some "consequences" I want to share with him.

      --
      The government is not your daddy. Its purpose is not to raid middle-class neighbors' wallets and give it to you.
    4. Re:Let Me Offer a Lemma on This Subject ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Don't give me that you snotty-faced heap of parrot droppings! Shut your festering gob you tit! Your type makes me puke! You vacuous toffee-nosed malodorous pervert!

    5. Re:Let Me Offer a Lemma on This Subject ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      and the horse you rode in on!

    6. Re:Let Me Offer a Lemma on This Subject ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You sir just gave me the idea on how to be come a millionaire. I'll see you on my yacht....well i'll see you from it since you just get it dirty if you touched it. 1. find angry people 2. e-anger managment classes at 50 bucks a pop 3. ???? --- fuck no there no need for this skip to 4 4. profit

    7. Re:Let Me Offer a Lemma on This Subject ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      For the meta mods:
      I modded this post redundant as it is a poor copy of a joke made by Taco in the summary.

    8. Re:Let Me Offer a Lemma on This Subject ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      gzuz lrn how to fuckin format your reply!!11!!!1!

      what are you a n00b on the interwebs?!!!111!!!

    9. Re:Let Me Offer a Lemma on This Subject ... by hairyfeet · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Actually I believe John Gabriel's Greater Internet Theory explained the phenomena in the most clear and concise terms.

      --
      ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
    10. Re:Let Me Offer a Lemma on This Subject ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      NO!

    11. Re:Let Me Offer a Lemma on This Subject ... by Mistshadow2k4 · · Score: 4, Funny

      Dude, "fuck you and the horse you rode in on" isn't an insult anymore, it's the plot to a pr0n .avi download.

      --
      I dream of a better world... one in which chickens can cross roads without their motives being questioned.
    12. Re:Let Me Offer a Lemma on This Subject ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      NERD RAGGGGGGEEEEEEE WAHGGHHGHH!~~~~``

      lolcats for teh caps filter. Please dont't use so many caps mmmkay.

    13. Re:Let Me Offer a Lemma on This Subject ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      As a former lurker on alt flame can I just say that I doubt an illiterate maths major wannabe like you, who probably can't even find the shift key, let alone the caps lock, on it's (this being Slashdot, I'd say his, but I hardly think you qualify for a gender, so let's just leave you neutered) keyboard would even be able to get it up even if "it" was a rubber dildo. The mere existence of people like you would make me sad if I wasn't so angry at the waste of electrons used to hold you together. Why don't you just slither back to the gutter you came from? Hell, your post doesn't even qualify as a GNAA troll it's so pathetic. You people just make me mad.

    14. Re:Let Me Offer a Lemma on This Subject ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      LULZ!!! OMG dah Luzers cant handle being made fun of. LOLLERSKATES.

    15. Re:Let Me Offer a Lemma on This Subject ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      For the meta mods:
      I modded this post redundant because in general I like to be an asshole, especially on the internet, and especially when i get to do it anonymously.

      (seriously i did, check the moderation, and then GO FUCK YOURSELF)

    16. Re:Let Me Offer a Lemma on This Subject ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Thank you. I hate karma whores.

    17. Re:Let Me Offer a Lemma on This Subject ... by RockWolf · · Score: 1

      I am intrigued by your post, and would like to subscribe to your newsletter.

      --
      February 9th, 2009 8:55pm: Slashdot becomes self-aware.
    18. Re:Let Me Offer a Lemma on This Subject ... by ozmanjusri · · Score: 2, Informative
      You call that a flame? THIS is a flame...

      You swine. You vulgar little maggot. You worthless bag of filth. As we say in Texas, you couldn't pour water out of a boot with instructions printed on the heel. You are a canker, an open wound. I would rather kiss a lawyer than be seen with you. You took your last vacation in the Islets of Langerhans.

      You're a putrescent mass, a walking vomit. You are a spineless little worm deserving nothing but the profoundest contempt. You are a jerk, a cad, and weasel. I take that back; you are a festering pustule on an weasel's rump. Your life is a monument to stupidity. You are a stench, a revulsion, a big suck on a sour lemon.

      You are a squeaking rat, a mistake of nature and a heavy-metal bagpipe player. You were not born. You were hatched into an unwilling world that rejects the likes of you. You didn't crawl out of a normal egg, either, but rather a mutant maggot egg rejected by an evil scientist as being below his low standards.
      You are jetsam who dreams of becoming flotsam. You won't make it. Your alleged parents abandoned you at birth and then died of shame in recognition of what they had done to an unsuspecting world. They were a bit late.

      I will never get over the embarrassment of belonging to the same species as you. You are a monster, an ogre, a malformity. I barf at the very thought of you. You have all the appeal of a paper cut.
      Lepers avoid you. You are vile, worthless, less than nothing.
      You are a weed, a fungus, the dregs of this earth. You are a technicolor yawn. And did I mention that you smell?

      Try to edit your responses of unnecessary material before attempting to impress us with your insight. The evidence that you are a nincompoop will still be available to readers, but they will be able to access it ever so much more rapidly.

      You are a thick-headed trog. I have seen skeet with more sense than you have. You are a few bricks short of a full load, a few cards short of a full deck, a few bytes short of a core dump, and a few chromosomes short of a full human. Worse than that, you top-post.

      You are weary, stale, flat and unprofitable. You are grimy, squalid, nasty and profane. You are foul and disgusting. You're a fool, an ignoramus. Monkeys look down on you. Even sheep won't have sex with you. You are unreservedly pathetic, starved for attention, and lost in a land that reality forgot. You are not ANSI compliant. You have a couple of address lines shorted together. You should be promoted to Engineering Manager.

      Do you really expect your delusional and incoherent ramblings to be read? Everyone plonked you long ago. Do you fantasize that your tantrums and conniption fits could possibly be worth the $0.000000001 worth of electricity used to send them? Your life is one big W.O.M.B.A.T. and your future doesn't look promising either.
      We need to trace your bloodline and terminate all siblings and cousins in order to cleanse humanity of your polluted genes.
      The good news is that no normal human would ever mate with you, so we won't have to go into the sewers in search of your git.

      You are a waste of flesh. You have no rhythm. You are ridiculous and obnoxious. You are the moral equivalent of a leech. You are a living emptiness, a meaningless void. You are sour and senile. You are a loathsome disease, a drooling inbred cross-eyed toesucker. You make Quakers shout and strike Pentecostals silent. You have a version 1.0 mind in a version 6.04 world. Your mother had to tie a pork chop around your neck just to get your dog to play with you. You think that http://www.guymacon.com/insult.txt is the name of a rock band.
      You believe that P.D.Q. Bach is the greatest composer who ever lived. You would rather read L. Ron Hubbard than Larry Niven. Hee-Haw is too deep for you. You would watch test patterns all day if the other inmates would let you.

      On a good day you're a half-wit. You remind me of drool.

      --
      "I've got more toys than Teruhisa Kitahara."
    19. Re:Let Me Offer a Lemma on This Subject ... by ben2umbc · · Score: 1

      Fuck that! I'm writing this from my H2 in the left lane of I-95. What really pisses me off is those damn drivers who never pay attention to the road! That is where my fucking rage comes from!

    20. Re:Let Me Offer a Lemma on This Subject ... by rtb61 · · Score: 2, Informative
      That is not really true. The reality as internet usage spread is, more violent, immature and angry people are using. These people are already violent and will if they feel insulted in the normal interpersonal public space, lash act and attempt to brutalise and dominate those who they feel have insulted them.

      So these same violent individuals gain access to the internet and whom do they interact with, why the very people who they would normally bully if they met them out on the street or in any other public space, those people who would normally have to shut up and just take the violence and abuse.

      Now when those innocent non-violent individuals meet the basically arse hole, failed jock strap, red necks in digital space, they recognise them by their communications mannerisms and do exactly what you would expect them to do, take the bloody piss out of them. A lot of those victims of bullying also get a little out of hand at times with the new found freedom to communicate, with out getting threatened or actually suffering violent physical harm.

      So the problem exists outside of the internet and is not as a result of the internet. You want to end the problem, solve it at it's core root, eliminate those violent racists prejudiced are holes from the population base, detect it an early age via genetics, drug them up and keep the sedated for the rest of their lives and for heavens sake simply don't let them breed. Of course the republicans would loathe the idea, their would be no one left to vote for them ;).

      --
      Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
    21. Re:Let Me Offer a Lemma on This Subject ... by Dan541 · · Score: 1

      Doesn't matter I metamod everyone down.

      --
      An SQL query goes to a bar, walks up to a table and asks, "Mind if I join you?"
    22. Re:Let Me Offer a Lemma on This Subject ... by dmizer · · Score: 2, Insightful

      That is not really true. The reality as internet usage spread is, more violent, immature and angry people are using. These people are already violent and will if they feel insulted in the normal interpersonal public space, lash act and attempt to brutalise and dominate those who they feel have insulted them.

      I agree to a certain point. However, online anonymity allows people to say and do things they would never consider doing in real life. Mostly because if they did so in real life, there would be immediate, undesirable, and often painful repercussions. People who are violent and angry will always be violent and angry, but the internet allows people who are normally passive to act out on things which society's mores would otherwise prevent.

    23. Re:Let Me Offer a Lemma on This Subject ... by MadEwokHerd · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      I have one thing to say to CNN. Ima Chargin Mah Lazar!!!!

    24. Re:Let Me Offer a Lemma on This Subject ... by RhadamanthosIsChaos · · Score: 1

      *slow applause*

      That, sir, is incredible.

      Note to self: forward this post to people I don't like.

      --
      +++OUT OF CHEESE ERROR+++ REDO FROM START +++
  2. Not news by Stone+Rhino · · Score: 5, Funny
    --


    Remember, there were no nuclear weapons before women were allowed to vote.
    1. Re:Not news by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      THIS BULLSHIT JUST PISSES ME OFF!

      --Filter error: Don't use so many caps. It's like YELLING--

      This too.

    2. Re:Not news by bughunter · · Score: 2, Funny
      --
      I can see the fnords!
    3. Re:Not news by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      2 + 3 = Cats

    4. Re:Not news by HiVizDiver · · Score: 1

      Which was cleaned up and simplified for this t-shirt - which I own. The sad but knowing nods I get when I wear it tell all.

    5. Re:Not news by DF5JT · · Score: 1

      Alt.tasteless a harbour for anonymous idiots? Today, maybe. Certainly not in the golden days you think you are referring to.

    6. Re:Not news by aqk · · Score: 1

      Non, monsieur-

          2 + 2 = cat.

          2 + 3 = SANK.

      Comprenez-vous ?

    7. Re:Not news by bughunter · · Score: 1

      Oh there were plenty. They just didn't survive long under the withering flames of the regulars.

      --
      I can see the fnords!
  3. WTF r u taking aboot? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Screw u mofo!!

    1. Re:WTF r u taking aboot? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      lol u tak him 2da bar|?

  4. I'm against anonymous anger. by hey! · · Score: 4, Funny

    It distracts from pseudonymous anger, and that makes me mad.

    --
    Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
    1. Re:I'm against anonymous anger. by Hognoxious · · Score: 5, Funny

      I prefer abominous anger. As in the snowman.

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    2. Re:I'm against anonymous anger. by betterunixthanunix · · Score: 4, Funny

      I am more into ambiguous anger:

      "I am angry at the parade I saw coming through the window!"

      --
      Palm trees and 8
    3. Re:I'm against anonymous anger. by rugatero · · Score: 3, Funny

      I'm loving asynchronous anger, by which I get angrier at you than you do at me.

      --
      This comment is for entertainment purposes only. Any similarity to real insight or information is purely coincidental.
    4. Re:I'm against anonymous anger. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      Er...that would be asymmetrical anger.

      -Posting as sm20591 since Chips & Dips....

    5. Re:I'm against anonymous anger. by karnal · · Score: 1

      I'd probably be angry if a parade came through my window too.

      --
      Karnal
    6. Re:I'm against anonymous anger. by rugatero · · Score: 3, Funny

      Yes, yes it would.
      Time to get angry at myself...

      --
      This comment is for entertainment purposes only. Any similarity to real insight or information is purely coincidental.
    7. Re:I'm against anonymous anger. by ConceptJunkie · · Score: 4, Funny

      I was very angry at you last week.

      That was asynchronous anger.

      --
      You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike.
    8. Re:I'm against anonymous anger. by Hoi+Polloi · · Score: 0, Redundant

      This article makes me want to kill someone!

      --
      It is by the juice of the coffee bean that thoughts acquire speed, the teeth acquire stains. The stains become a warning
    9. Re:I'm against anonymous anger. by hey! · · Score: 5, Funny

      Asynchronous anger is something different altogether, although I think you have to be married to experience.

      Your spouse is always angry about something you did in the past or are about to do in the future. Theoretically they can be mad at you for what you are doing right now, but I think in practice there isn't enough room for that, so it gets shoved into some kind of complex priority queue.

      --
      Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
    10. Re:I'm against anonymous anger. by nine-times · · Score: 5, Funny

      I really like ambivalent anger. But I also kind of hate it.

    11. Re:I'm against anonymous anger. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      Erogenous anger for me please. Now whip it!

    12. Re:I'm against anonymous anger. by pseudonomous · · Score: 1

      That would offend me if I were better at spelling.

    13. Re:I'm against anonymous anger. by cmacb · · Score: 0, Redundant

      I'm loving asynchronous anger, by which I get angrier at you than you do at me.

      That would be asymmetrical anger.

    14. Re:I'm against anonymous anger. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

      You also have the most strange type of anger where your wife is fuming at you for days due to something you did or didn't do in one of her dreams. That just weirds me out.

    15. Re:I'm against anonymous anger. by kaizokuace · · Score: 1

      seriously wtf is with that! girls suck!

      --
      Balderdash!
    16. Re:I'm against anonymous anger. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      girls suck!

      Only in your dreams, dirtbag.

      (I know, I know... fish, barrel, gun, FUCK YOU VERY MUCH.)

    17. Re:I'm against anonymous anger. by hey! · · Score: 5, Funny

      seriously wtf is with that! girls suck!

      Ah. An optimist.

      --
      Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
    18. Re:I'm against anonymous anger. by TeknoHog · · Score: 1

      I'm starting to get more and more into asymptotic anger.

      --
      Escher was the first MC and Giger invented the HR department.
    19. Re:I'm against anonymous anger. by b4upoo · · Score: 1

      Did you ever think that those that express anger on the net are those unable to hold their own in real life? The guy that can't stand up to his wife or his boss or his next door neighbor is the guy most likely to post angry junk on the net.

    20. Re:I'm against anonymous anger. by Whiteox · · Score: 1

      I prefer apathetic anger. That way I just don't give a damn.

      --
      Don't be apathetic. Procrastinate!
    21. Re:I'm against anonymous anger. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I have Omnibus anger...

          I was stuck behind a school bus for about 15 blocks...

    22. Re:I'm against anonymous anger. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I am anonymous, but I AM NOT ANGRY you insensitive clod!

    23. Re:I'm against anonymous anger. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How about my ambidextrous anger?

      You'll never know which fist I'm going to hit you with...

    24. Re:I'm against anonymous anger. by rohan972 · · Score: 1

      Yes. That's a lot of people.

    25. Re:I'm against anonymous anger. by Concerned+Onlooker · · Score: 1

      I was very angry with you last week. Or maybe it wasn't last week. And I don't think it was you.

      That was amorphous anger.

      --
      http://www.rootstrikers.org/
    26. Re:I'm against anonymous anger. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That would be a "Loop back: 127.0.0.1" Anger.

      Now back to my Broadcast Anger.

    27. Re:I'm against anonymous anger. by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

      I can't make my mind up whether to be annoyed by that or not.

      Must be ambivalent anger.

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    28. Re:I'm against anonymous anger. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Do what thou wilt. I still prefer Kenneth Anger.

    29. Re:I'm against anonymous anger. by ConceptJunkie · · Score: 1

      I was not either angry or not angry with you until you read my message.

      That was quantum anger.

      --
      You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike.
  5. THIS IS FUCKING STUPID by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'M NOT ANGRY. Those damn idiots think we're all angry, well I have news for them. Some of us ARE JUST SMARTER THAN YOU! Gaaaaaaaawwwdd! Thinking you're better than us and just LUMPING US ALL INTO ONE freakin group : the ANGRY?!?!?! JEEEEEESUS!

  6. Ubuntu taking over? by srussia · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    And did the code-naming scheme roll over already?

    --
    Set your phasers on "funky"!
    1. Re:Ubuntu taking over? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And did the code-naming scheme roll over already?

      Ya, and they're switching to $EPITHET $EMOTION. Next up, Blissful Befuddlement.

    2. Re:Ubuntu taking over? by MrNaz · · Score: 1

      Befuddlement isn't an emotion, it's a noun.

      Dickhead.

      --
      I hate printers.
  7. I hate Slashdot by rainhill · · Score: 1

    ... because I can.

  8. Stupid crap story by Rik+Sweeney · · Score: 4, Funny

    on a stupid crap website.

    Slashdot sucks, Digg's much better :)

    1. Re:Stupid crap story by Rik+Sweeney · · Score: 5, Funny

      shit, I forgot to click Post Anonymously.

      Oh the irony :(

    2. Re:Stupid crap story by lymond01 · · Score: 1

      Having relieved yourself of your anonymity, I gather you feel better about your path in life?

    3. Re:Stupid crap story by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      If it makes you feel any better, I'd be really anonymously pissed off if my name was Rik Sweeney too. If you get married, take your wife's name. Try to look for a woman named Powers. Yeah. Rik Powers. That'd be cool.

    4. Re:Stupid crap story by gnick · · Score: 5, Funny

      Rik Powers? No way.

      Marry Michelle Rohl.

      Rik Rohl would be awesome.

      --
      He's getting rather old, but he's a good mouse.
    5. Re:Stupid crap story by ribuck · · Score: 1

      Here is a real Richard Rohl for you: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/3/636/81a

    6. Re:Stupid crap story by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      DIGG SUCKS!!!!

      They "boot" you for spam, but won't "prove" it...

      Seriously, I had posted replies maybe twice over a one year period, then had a problem with my account not letting me login in. I contacted support, and was told it was fixed.

      Tried to login, no go, contacted support, then was told my account was barred due to spam.

      What, spamming for support?

    7. Re:Stupid crap story by Rik+Rohl · · Score: 1

      Got it..

  9. Positive thing by poetmatt · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Regardless of how extreme some people respond to some parts of anger, this is a pretty positive thing. I'd rather have someone rant about something online than go out and live out the murder they wished upon someone. /stabbity

    1. Re:Positive thing by hey! · · Score: 5, Interesting

      I'd rather have someone rant about something online than go out and live out the murder they wished upon someone.

      Why in the world would you think that these are mutually exclusive alternatives?

      The "steam boiler" model of pop psychology has long been proven to be incorrect. Acting and speaking do not relieve pressure -- or at least very much pressure. Instead human emotions tend to follow feedback loops. Acting and speaking angrily lead to thinking angrily, which lead to further angry actions and speech.

      The word used by psychologists for this feedback phenomenon is "refractory". Anger is a refractory state precisely because angry thoughts and actions lead to further angry thoughts and actions. It is not relief that puts an end to it, it's fatigue.

      Look around at people who act or speak out their anger and those who try to moderate their anger. Who stays angry the longest? The next time you get angry, try to master that anger by thinking objective thoughts. Do you stay angry longer or less long?

      --
      Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
    2. Re:Positive thing by PhrostyMcByte · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Various reasons include: anonymity, lack of rules, and lack of immediate consequences

      Growing up, we are taught how to act "proper", and much of that involves keeping our emotions bottled up. Everyone gets frustrated with coworkers, on the road, etc. but rarely says anything for fear of consequences. Anger isn't any more rampant on the web than it is in real life, it is just expressed freely here.

      So what is the article really suggesting? That we make rules to have everyone bottle up like normal? A lot of what people say on the net might be exaggerated, but I'm sure this is merely a symptom of finally being able to speak your mind, with the oppression of society lifted. It's like kids cussing a lot with friends because it's forbidden at home, then they grow up and suddenly they don't cuss at trivial things anymore, because they're free to do it.

    3. Re:Positive thing by CFTM · · Score: 1

      No doubt on this one, as it stands I have a bit of a temper; I've noticed that throughout the course of the day, if someone does something stupid or assinine that really gets under my skin (I'm in IT) it'll tend to cook and the one tiny thing and I'll go off the handle. Not really a great habit to have...

      I blame it on my classes :)

    4. Re:Positive thing by poetmatt · · Score: 0

      Interesting view. I do agree it's not necessary mutually exclusive. It's just one positive option. The "amount of pressure released through verbal/internet outlet" part, is entirely subjective and I would feel is not something that can be specifically quantified.

      Your last paragraph, is somewhat of a emotional comfort issue though. For example, people who can explode with anger are not necessarily angry the rest of the time, or fatigued. In fact, it could be akin to a 5 minute burst of anger and then calm for a week, or something. They certainly could objectify to reduce their anger in general though, I am not in disagreement on that.

      However, the idea of who maintains anger is in and of itself not mutually exclusive to objectifying. There are external things that will affect whether someone stays angry, as well as whether they are resilience or susceptible to those external forces.

    5. Re:Positive thing by popmaker · · Score: 2, Funny

      Yeah, well, but people need to vent. It might not be "steam boiler", but we have that need anyway.

      Maybe it has to do with the fact that there might be people agreeing with you. If you're pissed off about something and speak about it openly, you might get feedback from other people with similar feeling and while that MIGHT also leed to you getting more aggressive with the positive feedback, it might also show you that you're not ALONE in being pissed off, which is a very positive and anger-releasing feeling.

      On the other hand, however, "positive feedback" does not describe the internet by any stretch of the imagination.

    6. Re:Positive thing by BorgCopyeditor · · Score: 1

      It's possible to think that something on the internet is unfair, untrue, irresponsible, or whatever other characteristic one might get angry at, and still not get angry at it. Even if you're quick to get angry, it's hard to do if you're half asleep, for example. That proves that you don't HAVE to feel angry, but can (at least under some circumstances) choose a different response.

      In other words, it's simply not true that "not getting angry" HAS to mean "not feeling anything" or "suppressing what you really feel."

      --
      Shop as usual. And avoid panic buying.
    7. Re:Positive thing by JCSoRocks · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I've got all these mod points and not a single one let's me mod something "scary", "stay away from this guy", or "OMGWTFBBQ". So sad. Although for a moment I considered modding it "informative".

      --
      You are using English. Please learn the difference between loose and lose; they're, there, and their; your and you're.
    8. Re:Positive thing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wow dude, I have no idea how you managed to spout all that drivel without making a single spelling mistake. That's some remarkably good spelling and grammar for a piece of text that makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.

    9. Re:Positive thing by CFTM · · Score: 2, Informative

      Hey I'm just being honest about my short comings/things I need to work on but you can go ahead and make snap judgments without knowing me, that's fine too!

    10. Re:Positive thing by jacquesm · · Score: 1

      he's a poet, it makes perfect sense (that it's nonsense).

    11. Re:Positive thing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      References please. I need to show my spouse. Just not today...

    12. Re:Positive thing by hey! · · Score: 1

      No, people don't need to vent. They need to feel like they are control of things that are important to them. Venting is a poor substitute.

      I agree, it is nice to have people agree with you. That doesn't mean you stop being mad. In fact, I suspect it trains you to be mad.

      --
      Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
    13. Re:Positive thing by ezzzD55J · · Score: 4, Funny

      you also have an annoying habit of making passive aggressive comments ;)

    14. Re:Positive thing by nine-times · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Yeah, but I remember reading about a recent study that showed that people had something like a finite amount of self control. Like if you were put in a position of having to use willpower to keep yourself from doing something, you'd be more likely to succumb to your impulses if you'd been exercising your willpower on something else directly before.

      Now I think the study was regarding addictive behavior specifically (I'm not going to actually go looking for the news story I read about it), but I think it explains why people are inclined to believe the "steam boiler" model. It may not be that letting out anger lessens the amount of anger you have, but rather that relaxing your will and succumbing to your anger allows you well of willpower to recharge a bit, therefore allowing you to reassert a level of self-control that wouldn't otherwise be available.

      If that model is right, then it may be that the best solution is to work on removing the source of the anger, but that the second-best thing to do is still to "blow off steam" in healthier ways that allow you to maintain control. In other words, "bottling it up" might still result in an explosion, even if the "steam boiler" model is incorrect.

    15. Re:Positive thing by Progman3K · · Score: 1

      Regardless of how extreme some people respond to some parts of anger, this is a pretty positive thing. I'd rather have someone rant about something online than go out and live out the murder they wished upon someone. /stabbity

      I started reading the posts on those sites and was getting a little upset because I could sort of relate to a lot of the experiences the people were writing about.

      After a few really over-the-top ones, I started reading them as put-ons and thereafter started laughing as I read them.

      Each one more distressing than the last, my reaction was to guffaw.

      I sort of feel bad because some of them (maybe even most of them) are undoubtedly genuine but instead of drawing me into their feeling of anger, they instead made me laugh.

      So to echo your thoughts, it IS better that people post these often-incoherent diatribes instead of going out and acting on their anger.

      I just wonder if it's normal to laugh...

      --
      I don't know the meaning of the word 'don't' - J
    16. Re:Positive thing by CFTM · · Score: 1

      Eh no one's perfect :)

    17. Re:Positive thing by hey! · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I think you are right, in that removing the source of anger is important. That, after all, is the point of anger, isn't it? Except that in so many situations you can't remove the source of anger by being angry. That's civilization for you: you can't haul of and smack somebody you disagree with into submission.

      I agree that if continually provoked to anger (or tempted to do something you are addicted to), you'll end up giving in. But getting angry (unless you can remove the source of anger that way) is no more useful than getting drunk to relieve your alcoholism.

      --
      Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
    18. Re:Positive thing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Actually, the username has nothing to do with any poetic aspects. I just used it as a kid for account names and have been too lazy to come up with another name. Similar to how some people like to use the same character names across different video games, etc. Trust me, it wasn't the first, and won't be the last, username I use. It also makes ti easier to differentiate between accounts in other games. Sometimes people have nothing to say and just go after the name or my grammar. It's like they're having a bad day and need someone to use their moderation points on.

      I do find it interesting someone is deliberately posting anon to hold their "overrated" on my comment and not knock their own moderation off, and thats twice in one day (less than 2 hours, even) . I think someone's intentionally going through my posts, likely.

    19. Re:Positive thing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes, the next time someone steals money form my retirement account.

      I'll remember happy thoughts.
      Happy thoughts.

      I don't think that one way or another it's going to help you. I am more concerned when they start making reports on this in the news.

      "You should be scared of anonymous internet users. This is a real problem."

    20. Re:Positive thing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "Why in the world would you think that these are mutually exclusive alternatives?"
      If I did not have the free speech to say things online and not be punished for it, I would murder everyone who took that right away from me.

    21. Re:Positive thing by nine-times · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I remember someone saying (maybe it's a famous quote?) something like, "Being angery is like taking poison and hoping the other guy dies." Or maybe it was hate instead of anger or something, but the basic idea is that when you are angry at someone, sometimes your anger is hurting you more than it hurts them.

      I think anger and fear are useful emotions, but sometimes our reactions to them are not useful. It may be that you could argue the same thing about emotions like love and confidence. You can try too hard to hold on to the things you love, and you can get yourself into trouble by being over-confident, for example.

      I may be getting too philosophical here. I guess I'm just saying that there are things that you should get angry about, and so I don't feel comfortable talking about it as a wholly negative emotion. I think the problem is when people don't know how to deal with that anger, especially when that anger is rooted in some other obscure emotional issue that results in misdirected anger.

      And though it's true that acting angry may make you feel more angry, bottling it up or covering it with a smile won't necessarily help you deal with that anger. Ideally we'd all find the real source of our anger, deal with it properly, and figure out how to not get angry in the first place, but I wouldn't be on that utopia coming any time soon. In reality, sometimes finding an appropriate outlet may be helpful.

      On the other hand, I'm not sure being an angry troll on the Internet is an appropriate outlet. It's probably better to go to the batting cage, or whatever kind of meditative physical exertion you prefer. (That's not something I actually do, but it seems like an obvious example: go hit shit with a baseball bat in a socially acceptable environment.)

    22. Re:Positive thing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Uh, how would venting necessarily train people to be mad? What ever happened to it just being a positive outlet?

    23. Re:Positive thing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

      I think a third approach, in which you channel your anger into a harmless activity, is much better. This can be anything from chopping wood to working out with boxing gloves on a heavy bag, to playing video games.

      Personally, I like to fire up an ultra-violent video game and take out a few hundred virtual enemies. By the time I'm done, I'm no longer angry, and can barely remember what got me so heated up in the first place. Nobody has been yelled at, no one has been harmed, and I feel much better.

      You NEED an outlet for your aggression. Yelling about whatever you're angry about isn't an outlet; it's a magnifier. But an hour kicking a heavy bag, or playing Dead Space, can work wonders.

      On the other hand, if you do what the shrinks are telling you to do, you end up being like that "quiet man" everyone talks about. You know the one... The guy who finally snaps and kills half a dozen people, and everyone says "but he was such a quiet man!"

      If you want to get rid of your anger, find an unrelated activity you can take your hostility out on, and DISTRACT YOURSELF.

      Oh, and stop listening to shrinks. They generally do more harm than good.

    24. Re:Positive thing by dhudson0001 · · Score: 1

      I agree w/ parent. It seems to me the internet is a less hostile place than it was back in the 90's. One might say the air has leaked out of the inane, pointless arguments that used to spring up seemingly everywhere- trolling seems more obvious than ever before to the general public.

      Maybe it's just wishful thinking, or the fact that I don't spend much time on Digg or plowing through the noise on Utube, or maybe it's because I finally gave up on Usenet... but I simply don't see the typical butt-stupid flaming as much as I used to.

      Could it be the use of the internet is forcing collective reasoning and rational thought on us?

      It's a nice thought...in the end I believe that most of us have the capacity to learn how to behave- to disagree without being completely disrespectful, and to learn how to act through example. I suppose there is hope that the strongest, fittest examples that are passed on to the next generation will be the most rational ones

    25. Re:Positive thing by Reziac · · Score: 1

      "It is not relief that puts an end to it, it's fatigue."

      Or more likely, expenditure of adrenaline and other biochemicals.

      Which happens a lot faster if you can rave and break things (physically or metaphorically) for a few minutes than if you have to bottle it up.

      The "ongoing anger" problem arises when raving and breaking things becomes an end in itself, rather than something that "fatigues" away the anger.

      --
      ~REZ~ #43301. Who'd fake being me anyway?
    26. Re:Positive thing by Obfuscant · · Score: 2, Funny
      The next time you get angry, try to master that anger by thinking objective thoughts.

      I tried that. I started by thinking "oranges are orange", but then that led to the question "why apples aren't apple", and from there I went to "why are there two ways to spell 'grey' (gray) that are both colors, but two ways to spell 'red' (read) and only one of them is?" and that made me really mad.

      And THEN I thought about the guy who created the word "orange" specifically so you couldn't write a poem about oranges and THAT pushed me over the edge.

    27. Re:Positive thing by gangien · · Score: 1

      then they grow up and suddenly they don't cuss at trivial things anymore

      the fuck i don't!

    28. Re:Positive thing by gangien · · Score: 1

      well i also apparently hit the wrong reply to this button.

      Damnit.

    29. Re:Positive thing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "Door hinge"

    30. Re:Positive thing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, you're just one sad and twisted fuck, that's all.

    31. Re:Positive thing by Myrddin+Wyllt · · Score: 1

      And THEN I thought about the guy who created the word "orange" specifically so you couldn't write a poem about oranges and THAT pushed me over the edge.

      I saw Rich Hall attempt 'door hinge' in a Louisiana accent as a rhyme for orange (on an episode of QI), which was later ripped off by Drake and Josh, but it doesn't really work.

      There is a mountain in Wales which does rhyme with orange, although how you work that into a poem is up to you. (Actually, I suppose it's no more a stretch than using 'orange' in the first place).

      --
      [ ]Half Empty [ ]Half Full [x]Twice as big as it needs to be
    32. Re:Positive thing by DiegoBravo · · Score: 1

      Now I'm really angry 'cause I can't mod you. Those 5 f**ing points expired yesterday!

    33. Re:Positive thing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think you're on to something with acting "proper" due to "consequences". Expressing your opinions on the internet, even angrily, is different from doing it real life. There is no equivalent to screaming in someone's face unless you hack their machine to display your messages. IRL heated arguments involve personal space and volume which contribute to feeling threatened. Being told by a person on your favorite forum that he/she's going to hit you using all caps has a much different threat level than being told in person loudly by a guy/girl getting in your face. Sure there is a lot of anger and bigoted opinions on the internet, but generally there is no bridge to meatspace. this makes the threat level (and therefore consequence) lower.

    34. Re:Positive thing by Progman3K · · Score: 1

      Yeah, you should post cruel, cutting comments anonymously instead!

      --
      I don't know the meaning of the word 'don't' - J
    35. Re:Positive thing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      not a single one let's me mod something "scary", "stay away from this guy
      Absolutely!
      They should add a few more categories like
      -1 Dickhead
      -1 Smartypants
      -1 Nano Penis
      -1 Christian
      -1 American (any nationality in the world - (separate drop down list))
      -1 Heathen
      There must be more we can add.

    36. Re:Positive thing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The "steam boiler" model of pop psychology has long been proven to be incorrect. Acting and speaking do not relieve pressure -- or at least very much pressure. Instead human emotions tend to follow feedback loops. Acting and speaking angrily lead to thinking angrily, which lead to further angry actions and speech.

      The "refutation" was written by a bunch of namby-pamby overcivilized psychologists who just wanted everyone to turn into Mr. Rogers. Ironically, out of the four authors, two committed suicide and one of the other two strangled a drug rep right out of the blue (was found not guilty; good thing he did it in Texas.

      Yeah, bottling up anger helps. It helps you get angrier the next time you have to bottle it up. Put that in your feedback look and smoke it.

    37. Re:Positive thing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think someone's intentionally going through my posts, likely.

      Wow. You are a nutbag. Did you know that?

    38. Re:Positive thing by TriezGamer · · Score: 1

      The fact that you feel the need to prove yourself to your spouse or otherwise justify your actions to your spouse seems indicative of much more pressing issues.

    39. Re:Positive thing by Obfuscant · · Score: 2, Funny
      (Actually, I suppose it's no more a stretch than using 'orange' in the first place).

      The orange, the orange, a non-musical fruit,
      Eat all you want, there will be no toot.
      Drunk raw from the glass at each breakfast meal,
      Not good with the cookies but great with some veal.
      Add it to vodka and have a screwdriver,
      A drink that will cost you more than a fiver.
      But don't try to rhyme the name of the orange
      'cause it will make your poem sound really odd and ruin the entire effect.

    40. Re:Positive thing by stephanruby · · Score: 1

      I think you are right, in that removing the source of anger is important. That, after all, is the point of anger, isn't it? Except that in so many situations you can't remove the source of anger by being angry. That's civilization for you: you can't haul of and smack somebody you disagree with into submission.

      What about just walking away? That's the problem with society right now. Some people fool themselves into believing they can't walk away (now, I'm not saying everyone can walk away, for instance, a kid in a family, or a soldier in the military, or a guy in prison, but for almost everyone else living in the United States, the disgruntled post office worker, the abused girlfriend or boyfriend, the codependent adult, etc. All those other people are free to walk away, except they convinced themselves otherwise, and remain the prisoners of their own minds.)

    41. Re:Positive thing by poetmatt · · Score: 1

      someone FINALLY got the joke!

      Man, if you look at all the replies, nobody got the sarcasm at the end. Sure invoked a lot of people going psychoanalyst/crazy.

      If I had mod points for you, you would get a +funny.

    42. Re:Positive thing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Your waisting you're time.

      I was borne too loose.

    43. Re:Positive thing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm guessing nano penis came to mind for personal reasons? Poor little fellah...

  10. So much better to go public... by tjstork · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I mean, I've gone from Excellent to Bad Karma in three days of raging on slashdot, and were I not on the verge of getting kicked off, I could go on raging for three days more and go for the mystical Evil rating.

    --
    This is my sig.
    1. Re:So much better to go public... by Alpha+Whisky · · Score: 1

      Damn, I don't have any modpoints, I would have modded you informative for the ironic effect.

      --
      it's = it is

      its = belonging to it

    2. Re:So much better to go public... by dedazo · · Score: 1

      Keep it up and you can be the next twitter. Sockpuppets can't be far behind now.

      --
      Web2.0: I love when people Flickr my cuil and digg my boingboing until my google is reddit and I start to yahoo
    3. Re:So much better to go public... by gnick · · Score: 1

      Actually, dedazo, you and WillyHill are the only 2 real slashdot users. The rest of us are all twitter sockpuppets - It's the only way to keep M$ off our scent. Sorry to burst your bubble.

      --
      He's getting rather old, but he's a good mouse.
    4. Re:So much better to go public... by Foobar+of+Borg · · Score: 1

      I mean, I've gone from Excellent to Bad Karma in three days of screaching like a goddamn fascist lunatic on slashdot and then whining like a pussy that I have bad karma, hoping a few n00bs will mod me up out of pity

      There, fixed that for you.

    5. Re:So much better to go public... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'd mod him up, you whiny liberal bitch.

    6. Re:So much better to go public... by tjstork · · Score: 1

      There, fixed that for you

      You didn't fix anything. I was actually rather proud of my bad karma. You libs seems to think that we need social approval like you do.

      "I hated the gooks. I will hate them as long as I live." - John McCain, 2 March 2000

      If he would have said that more in this election he would have carried the entire rustbelt. I mean, if he would have stood up in front of the UAW and said that, and followed it up with "that's why I've always bought American cars and encourage Americans to buy American cars.", he would have come out way ahead. But, he didn't.

      The next group of Republicans will not make that mistake again.

      --
      This is my sig.
    7. Re:So much better to go public... by Foobar+of+Borg · · Score: 1

      You didn't fix anything. I was actually rather proud of my bad karma. You libs seems to think that we need social approval like you do.

      I get modded down by the right-wing nuts pretty regularly on this site just for daring to suggest that maybe Bush isn't the best president in history. You are not being modded down for your views. You are being modded down for being a shrill, shrieking jackass. That, and you feel like you have to respond to *everything*.

      If he would have said that more in this election he would have carried the entire rustbelt. I mean, if he would have stood up in front of the UAW and said that, and followed it up with "that's why I've always bought American cars and encourage Americans to buy American cars.", he would have come out way ahead. But, he didn't. The next group of Republicans will not make that mistake again.

      I hate to be the one to break this to you, tjhitler, but the White Power movement is very much a minority. Face it. You are not descended from an Atlantean God race. White people are not inherently superior to anyone. White people are simply another group of people on this Earth. Most Americans outside of Alabama, Mississippi and Central PA understand this. So, go hide away in your shack in Montana and let the sane people run things.

      Also, people in the rustbelt are not the hopeless racists you make them out to be.

      Anyway, enjoy your pissed-off high blood pressure little world. I would suggest therapy, but I don't know if any child psychiatrists would take your case.

  11. Wouldn't they be angry anyway? by mgkimsal2 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Whatever the reason, they describe that online anger has resulted in real-life violence

    Of course I didn't RTFA, but I have to wonder, to what extent would these people be angry about whatever they did anyway? I tend to get impatient/grumpy/angry in many situations, regardless of whether it's online or offline (in lines at the bank, stores, etc.). Yeah, it's a bit easier to vent online sometimes, in IM thread, some forums, and so on, but I've vented in public and with friends/colleagues offline for years, well before the world of 'online'.

    Perhaps in a way its better than people do this online and stay away from other people in the real world to avoid physical harm to themselves and others.

    1. Re:Wouldn't they be angry anyway? by Indras · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Yes, but the difference is, if you vent in public with friends or coworkers, there's no trace of it left behind, except only vaguely in your memories, which are difficult to search and compile into a nice report.

      Venting on the internet, however, is practically permanent.

      --
      The speed of time is one second per second.
    2. Re:Wouldn't they be angry anyway? by mgkimsal2 · · Score: 1

      Good point!

    3. Re:Wouldn't they be angry anyway? by Reziac · · Score: 1

      I did RTFA, and... yeah, it's not like people just sit down at their keyboards and say, "Today I think I'll get mad!" They're already mad and want to vent, and they're going to do it one way or another. The online venting mechanism is the handiest ever, so they use it -- path of least resistance.

      What's lacking is the whap upside the head when they get out of hand or when the rest of the world gets tired of hearing it, like you'd get in Real Life[tm].

      But as to the notion that it's getting worse -- not hardly. If you remember the heyday of Usenet, and of BBSs before that, and before that of snailmail arguments -- today's angry venting is a mere puff of steam by comparison; in the olden days we got fullblown geysers.

      And that may be because the flipside of not having a "whap 'em" mechanism, is that the online venters can't force anyone to listen to them, either.

      --
      ~REZ~ #43301. Who'd fake being me anyway?
    4. Re:Wouldn't they be angry anyway? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Oh that is a great point and an excellent reason to NEVER vent online unless you do it anonymously!

    5. Re:Wouldn't they be angry anyway? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Real Life[tm]

      Okay, here is a genuine vent. What the fuck is up with your cutesy little trademark symbol after Real Life? Is that supposed to be funny? Or "intelligent"? Or showing that you are "in with the cool nerd crowd"??????

      Tonight, when you are rubbing the cheese grater against your deformed runt-dick, and your lumpy, yellowish semen oozes like pus from your pinsized hole, consider palpating your fucking Lentil Balls[tm] with a sword!

  12. Sad Really by mfh · · Score: 5, Interesting

    This reminds me of Lord of the Flies. The masks make the demons feel like they can act without consequence.

    Personally I think it's good for our psyches to take some form of abuse as long as we have a strong coping mechanism, and a strategy to deal with it. Truth be told, flies that are the dirtiest when they are young actually live the longest. Clean flies die quickly. So what I'm saying is that rampant nerd rage is a good thing because people get stuff off their chest, and as long as people understand how to deal with internet rage, then they can actually become mentally stronger from being entangled in it. Reminds me of the Hellmouth stories too, and how that whole discussion was such a healing power for so many.

    But it's sad we have to deal with such powerful demons, and that demons are so contagious.

    --
    The dangers of knowledge trigger emotional distress in human beings.
    1. Re:Sad Really by xstonedogx · · Score: 5, Funny

      So what I'm saying is that rampant nerd rage is a good thing because people get stuff off their chest...

      Plus it gives you 10 strength and 50% damage resistance if your health drops below 20%.

    2. Re:Sad Really by Todd+Fisher · · Score: 1

      Shut your pie-hole poindexter!

      --


      --I'm not talking about dance lessons. I'm talking about putting a brick through the other guy's windshield.-
    3. Re:Sad Really by BorgCopyeditor · · Score: 3, Interesting

      So what I'm saying is that rampant nerd rage is a good thing because people get stuff off their chest

      This is commonly said. Unfortunately, it's not true. When people habitually get themselves angry, even if it's "only online and not IRL," they get habituated to being angry.

      --
      Shop as usual. And avoid panic buying.
    4. Re:Sad Really by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You are a stupid ass.

    5. Re:Sad Really by mfh · · Score: 1

      You are a stupid ass.

      Ignorance is bliss, and Asses are more complex organisms than mosquito larvae. Aim lower if you want to try and wound me, you fungal cesspool vermin, you.

      --
      The dangers of knowledge trigger emotional distress in human beings.
    6. Re:Sad Really by Krishnoid · · Score: 1

      So what I'm saying is that rampant nerd rage is a good thing because people get stuff off their chest

      From Lisa the Beauty Queen:

      "Before I sing the national anthem, I'd like to say that college football diverts funds that are badly-needed for education and the arts!" Thus inspired, a quartet of nerds charge the field. The headline the next day read, 'Nerds pummelled in football melee'.

    7. Re:Sad Really by Achoi77 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Plus it gives you 10 strength and 50% damage resistance if your health drops below 20%.

      Not since the patch. :-( The buff was considered OP because it would proc passively when your HP dropped below 20%. They have since moved it to a Troll racial ability and made it so it can be cast at any time. But they only recieve the full benefit of the buff if they are badly damaged. Fortunately it's got a long cooldown so it can't be spammed.

    8. Re:Sad Really by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      (this was a fallout 3 reference, btw)

    9. Re:Sad Really by MeanSquare · · Score: 1

      Your post in turn reminds me of this lecture about situational contributors to violent and aggressive behavior. At 47:40 the lecturer discusses what he calls the "Lord of the Flies Effect".

      He refers to a psychological study about the impact of anonymity on violent behavior. More interestingly, in my opinion, he mentions an anthropological literature review in which 12.5% of primitive societies that do not ritualistically alter their appearance (with face paint or masks) before battle are found to kill, mutilate, and torture their captives while 80% of those that do alter their appearance do so.

    10. Re:Sad Really by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      He's talking about a perk in Fallout 3, not WoW.

    11. Re:Sad Really by greyhueofdoubt · · Score: 1

      Someone might already have mentioned this, but the OP was referring to the 'nerd rage' perk in Fallout 3. Just FYI.

      -b

      --
      No offense, but I've stopped responding to AC's.
    12. Re:Sad Really by maglor_83 · · Score: 1

      This reminds me of Lord of the Flies.

      Now there's a book that makes me angry!

  13. Good by ShieldW0lf · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Good. There is a lot to be angry about, and people have been far too sheep-like for far too long.

    Here's a fitting response to this article from the fictional Howard Beale:

    I don't have to tell you things are bad. Everybody knows things are bad. It's a depression. Everybody's out of work or scared of losing their job. The dollar buys a nickel's worth; banks are going bust; shopkeepers keep a gun under the counter; punks are running wild in the street, and there's nobody anywhere who seems to know what to do, and there's no end to it.

    We know the air is unfit to breathe and our food is unfit to eat. And we sit watching our TVs while some local newscaster tells us that today we had fifteen homicides and sixty-three violent crimes, as if that's the way it's supposed to be!

    We all know things are bad -- worse than bad -- they're crazy.

    It's like everything everywhere is going crazy, so we don't go out any more. We sit in the house, and slowly the world we're living in is getting smaller, and all we say is, "Please, at least leave us alone in our living rooms. Let me have my toaster and my TV and my steel-belted radials, and I won't say anything. Just leave us alone."

    Well, I'm not going to leave you alone.

    I want you to get mad!

    I don't want you to protest. I don't want you to riot. I don't want you to write to your Congressman, because I wouldn't know what to tell you to write. I don't know what to do about the depression and the inflation and the Russians and the crime in the street.

    All I know is that first, you've got to get mad.

    You've gotta say, "I'm a human being, goddammit! My life has value!"

    So, I want you to get up now. I want all of you to get up out of your chairs. I want you to get up right now and go to the window, open it, and stick your head out and yell,

    "I'm as mad as hell,

    and I'm not going to take this anymore!!"

    --
    -1 Uncomfortable Truth
    1. Re:Good by postbigbang · · Score: 1

      Bitching and moaning is a worldwide pass-time. It's even easier to do when you won't get dunned for having done so, hence anonymity as a hallmark of the Internet. That and surfing to places where you don't want anyone to know it's really you.

      In a world that's vastly more sophisticated than it once was, many have become terrible at getting rid of their stress. The need to vent and be heard is primal, and at least in the USA where I live, democracy isn't very satisfying in this regard with just two viable political parties.

      It's really easy to bitch. It's much tougher and takes more bravery to do something practical about a problem. Therein lays, IMHO, the difference in people that are angry, and working on a better future.

      --
      ---- Teach Peace. It's Cheaper Than War.
    2. Re:Good by ShieldW0lf · · Score: 4, Interesting

      You're right. But, the first thing they do is, they express their anger as anonymously as they can, to find out if they are alone, because they know if they are alone, they cannot act effectively.

      If they are not alone, they will come to see this fact. Together.

      Then, after they realize they are not alone, one person will stand up and say "My name is Joe Crazy. I am not going to take this anymore. Who is with me?"

      And THIS is when they will start cleaning up their society.

      And when they finally do, it will be gloriously violent, as those who have been exploiting the rule of law to oppress their fellow man are hoisted by their own petard.

      They will be hoisted by the masses who finally realize that they do not wish to live in an oppressive, efficient society based on the rule of law with the faint hope that they might one day get to be Dictator Bush, but just want to co-operate, take care of their needs and spend the rest of their time enjoying their life.

      It's inevitable.

      --
      -1 Uncomfortable Truth
    3. Re:Good by postbigbang · · Score: 1

      There is no glory in violence. It is the last refuge of the shnook.

      --
      ---- Teach Peace. It's Cheaper Than War.
    4. Re:Good by Shivetya · · Score: 1

      Uh, there is a lot to be upset about, but angry?

      Nah, what it comes down to is that too many people take offense at things that do not directly or in many cases indirectly affect them. They just want the attention and its easy to jump on a popular bandwagon because they then feel they belong and see other people agreeing with them.

      that and it is whole lot easier than fixing their own lives. why not represent all the problems as being caused by someone else, then you can righteously stand by and not do anything about it; other than bitch on a message board.

      Want to know how you can identify a sheep this election cycle? Simple, they vote for people with a D or R next to them. When you only have a choice between two parties what choice is that? Its like voting for the side of the coin that you want to land up and not acknowledging its the same coin regardless

      --
      * Winners compare their achievements to their goals, losers compare theirs to that of others.
    5. Re:Good by ShieldW0lf · · Score: 1

      That is an empty opinion, an expression of your distaste for violence and your desire to redefine words that might elevate it to a virtue. Your words don't mean a damn thing.

      --
      -1 Uncomfortable Truth
    6. Re:Good by postbigbang · · Score: 1

      And outside of that, Mrs Lincoln, how did you like the play?

      --
      ---- Teach Peace. It's Cheaper Than War.
    7. Re:Good by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Good. There is a lot to be angry about, and people have been far too sheep-like for far too long.

      Hmm... I'm not really following what your point is. Are you trying to say there's a correlation between anger and truthfulness? Because people are angry on the internet that they're angry because they discovered the truth?

      I often find those who are angry on the Internet forums have arguments based on the most absurd cases, if they even gave a reason at all. More often, I see angry being expressed mostly because someone's idea of superiority was challenged and they don't like it, regardless of how strong of a point the challenge was.

    8. Re:Good by Cornwallis · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Coincidentally, I watched "Network" again this past weekend and was really struck by how timely it was. Which is to say that anger is nothing new. (Nor are any of the other complaints Howard Beale verbalized!) What may be new is how mcuh more depersonalized we've all become due, in part, to the ever-increasing amount of time we spend observing machines - be it television, video games or computers. From the same period as "Network" I would recommend you rread "Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television" by Jerry Mander.

    9. Re:Good by meringuoid · · Score: 1
      That is an empty opinion, an expression of your distaste for violence and your desire to redefine words that might elevate it to a virtue.

      I will allow that violence is occasionally necessary. That does not make it glorious. Collecting the town's rubbish is necessary. Unblocking the sewers is necessary. Violence is to be classed alongside those: it is something that is inherently messy, ugly and often downright disgusting, but which needs to be done.

      For myself I'm with Billy Cassidy on this one: the ones who go on about blood sacrifices and glory and beauty in fighting are the ones yeh fuckin' shoot first.

      --
      Real Daleks don't climb stairs - they level the building.
    10. Re:Good by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And then what? Sorry, but without a follow up, at best it's a useless waste of my time. At worst you can hurt us all individually and collectively. Stop beating your chest and start thinking.

    11. Re:Good by ShieldW0lf · · Score: 1

      I will allow that violence is occasionally necessary. That does not make it glorious. Collecting the town's rubbish is necessary. Unblocking the sewers is necessary. Violence is to be classed alongside those: it is something that is inherently messy, ugly and often downright disgusting, but which needs to be done.

      For myself I'm with Billy Cassidy on this one: the ones who go on about blood sacrifices and glory and beauty in fighting are the ones yeh fuckin' shoot first.


      When a man is in fear of his life, fighting in the service of those who cannot defend themselves, it is glorious regardless of how ugly it is. Not because he overcame his enemy, but because he overcame his fear and made a sacrifice of himself.

      To deny such a man his glory and lump him together with those who would engage in violence for fun or profit is a disgusting insult to his courage, no matter how misguided you might believe his cause to be.

      --
      -1 Uncomfortable Truth
    12. Re:Good by Machtyn · · Score: 2, Insightful

      It's interesting that you rate anarchy higher than order, or "efficient society". The rule of law and order prevent the anarchy that would, in the end, destroy everyone and everything.

      Yes, there are a bunch of problems with society. But these problems aren't because of the law and societal norms, it is because people are breaking the law and societal norms. You state "Dictator Bush"... yes, I suppose he's broken some of the law and that's why people are angry with him. I'm angry at McCain and Obama. Why? Because they break the rules or their platform is based on breaking the rules that are tried and true. (Change is not necessarily good.) People are angry with the financial markets. Why? Because the ones at the top are breaking the law and rules.

    13. Re:Good by postbigbang · · Score: 1

      Your metaphors betray your testosterone. Yes, leaders suck. That means that conscientious objectors are heros for defying them. It takes far more guts to make diplomacy work than weapons.

      As someone related to founding 'fathers', I'll tell you that they shook the British Monarchy out of a sense of fairness, not violence. They wrote a set of documents that gave the citizenry a method to hold each other in checks and balances, rather than armed borders at each state line.

      No points scored for violence, it remains the last resort of those that were unable to abide by civility. That goes for Americans, that goes for everyone. You dishonor those that stole the USA from its natives. You dishonor those that fought for peace-- though it sounds like an oxymoron. You instead reduce humanity to the tribal beasts of our origins, rather than those what would seek peace rather than answer pettiness with a bullet.

      --
      ---- Teach Peace. It's Cheaper Than War.
    14. Re:Good by meringuoid · · Score: 2, Insightful
      When a man is in fear of his life, fighting in the service of those who cannot defend themselves, it is glorious regardless of how ugly it is. Not because he overcame his enemy, but because he overcame his fear and made a sacrifice of himself.

      The sole and entire purpose of violence is to overcome an enemy. There is no other excuse for it. To glorify a courageous sacrifice, separately from any contribution it may make to overall victory, is to encourage entirely futile waste of life, and is to my mind wholly monstrous; that is why I say that people who put about such ideas and perpetuate 'the old Lie' are the ones who ought to be shot first when the violence starts.

      Now to sacrifice one's life in such a way that it does contribute substantially to the overcoming of an enemy, that might be something that should reasonably be encouraged - though I will not call it glorious, it is at least as sordid and horrible as any other violent death. But there are many who courageously sacrifice themselves for nothing. For example, there was nothing worthwhile at all about the sacrifices made by the kamikaze pilots. They died entirely in vain, for by that stage there was no hope that their deaths could ever save their country. They would have done far better to go home to their families and live out their lives there. Will you call it glorious?

      --
      Real Daleks don't climb stairs - they level the building.
    15. Re:Good by Cyran0 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Isn't it funny how everyone who imagines this kind of dystopian revenge fantasy imagines themselves as the victorious overthrowers, rather than the overthrown or as those who get caught in the middle? The truth is that the vast majority of those who think in these terms are too busy playing their dystopian video games to actually do anything. The few wingnuts who do actually try to act usually just end up shooting up their school, place of employment, or whatever, and either end up in prison or shooting themselves. The ones who post about it online at least provide a clue as to their intentions, increasing the probability that they will be stopped.

    16. Re:Good by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      or they post as anonymous for fear that they will be modded down forever and blacklisted so that their opinion will never see the day of light.

    17. Re:Good by ShieldW0lf · · Score: 1

      On the one hand, you have a society based on the rule of law. You have leverage and force.

      On the other hand, you have a society based on the association of free men. You have co-operation and self-determination.

      The problem isn't the lawbreakers. The problems is the laws.

      There should never be a situation where one person connives themselves to the top, then dictates that all his fellows must act according to his direction even where it is contrary to their own wishes, because the numbers say that he is in charge.

      The solution isn't to incarcerate those who break the law. The solution is to disenfranchise those who have made a lifes work out of using the law to disenfranchise their fellows, rather than caring for themselves in a practical fashion. That group includes lawyers, bankers, politicians, old money business, venture capitalists, etc.

      Most people are too close to the situation to understand what's really going on...

      --
      -1 Uncomfortable Truth
    18. Re:Good by ShieldW0lf · · Score: 1

      As someone related to founding 'fathers'

      If this is true, it probably means you're one of the orchestrators of this situation who needs to be removed from influence.

      --
      -1 Uncomfortable Truth
    19. Re:Good by Chris+Burke · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Yes, there are a bunch of problems with society. But these problems aren't because of the law and societal norms, it is because people are breaking the law and societal norms.

      Quite frequently, yes, but hardly always. Laws and societal norms can easily be a problem unto themselves. Jim Crow laws, and the societal racism that created and justified them, were a very big problem. The laws of China, or the U.S.S.R., were a major societal problem even when they are being followed. There is no possible way you could say that the problems of society are only caused by breaking the law or societal norms.

      You are quite correct, though, in stating that this is better than anarchy. The solution to problematic laws is to correct those laws, eliminating or replacing them. Not to do away with the rule of law entirely. Part of the reason, aside from what any rapid descent into anarchy would do for the safety of the public at large, is that anarchy is unstable. Anarchy can last only as long as it takes for the wealthy and ambitious to decide that an absence of rules is a perfect opportunity for them to impose their own. The practical reality of anarchy is that it leads to war and dictatorship. The only exceptions are the same exceptions wherein Communism works similarly to its ideal: Small, isolated communes that exist as social experiments within an otherwise stable society of laws.

      You state "Dictator Bush"... yes, I suppose he's broken some of the law and that's why people are angry with him.

      I'm quite angry at Bush for things that are not against the law at all. Being such a frakin ignorant moron that you think you can invade Iraq without a plan for the occupation and think everything will turn out okay isn't illegal, and judging by the number who bought it at least at the beginning, isn't against societal norms either.

      --

      The enemies of Democracy are
    20. Re:Good by Haoie · · Score: 1

      The biggest difference. Feel free to get mad at things you can change and influence.

      But when you get pissed over stuff you can never hope to change, then it's just wasted energy.

      --
      If each mistake being made is a new one, then progress is being made.
    21. Re:Good by Hijacked+Public · · Score: 1

      Would you say it was correct to award Randall Shugart a Congressional Medal of Honor?

      --
      "Sacrifice for the good of The State" - The State
    22. Re:Good by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "If this is true, it probably means you're one of the orchestrators of this situation who needs to be removed from influence." by ShieldW0lf (601553) on Monday November 03, @03:53PM (#25617163)

      Great point, again, man... good job... AND?

      Especially since (&, not many people are aware of this little tidbit) this nation was founded as a "republic", NOT a democracy!

      (& just like in Rome, thousands of years ago, it's gotten corrupted & twisted so the rich get richer, even at the cost of our lives!)

      In fact, speaking of ROME? One of the Caesar's took emperor status for that, to stop it, while taking the known world, he tried to destroy that corrupted Roman Senate, no less (because it was becoming SHIT like this nation has @ the hands of the same type/ilk of scumbags)

      Yes, Rome, is like the US, today... it got corrupt, just like this nation has.

      Evidence? Well, from a REPUBLICAN no less:

      Hell, even McCain came out on national TV stating our gov't. is for shit & corrupt as hell.

      (AND, imo? Truly, He's not a bad man, but, "ANYTHING BUT REPUBLICAN" is the way to go, because like ANY employer? I am about results! Their results, including 2 shady elections in a row now?? Come ON!!!)

      Hey - You don't do your job, you're gone. That's what we all hear (justified or not) isn't it?

      AND, we, as their constituency, ARE THEIR EMPLOYERS (not their slaves, being kept in fear for our livelyhoods & yes, lives).

      He was talking about TRIBAL laws? They're smarter than we are now in many circumstances! E.G.-> The indian nations actually played a game here in the Northeast called Lacrosse to stop tribal wars, rather than war (though their version of the game was way, WAY more violent than ours is today).

      He's full of it, I agree ShieldWolf, & his type? Gotta go. Period.

      Notice he's NOT answering my questions? Gee... I wonder WHY?? Not.

      Violence, UNJUSTIFIED violence, like this "war for freedom"? It's bullshit. I have been saying that, & this freak tried to twist my words the other way... well, an eye for an eye... why did things like the Russian Revolution take place?? Nobody WANTS to use violence, especially vs. their own... but, when PUSH comes to SHOVE & the idiots @ the wheel don't respect or understand anything else??

      EYE FOR AN EYE!

    23. Re:Good by postbigbang · · Score: 1

      I see you have all the answers.

      --
      ---- Teach Peace. It's Cheaper Than War.
    24. Re:Good by postbigbang · · Score: 3, Insightful

      No one need answer your agenda. We do so in the quest for communications and to seek common ground. We don't whip out weapons and start shooting.

      There is only rarely justification for violence of any kind. The Bush administration has abused this in the quest of fear-mongering. My long dead ancestors fought in Virginia, then years later at Antietam, Gettysburg, and so on. Some of them were caucasian.

      When I got my draft card, I burned it. I'd do it again. Vietnam wasn't justified, nor was Iraq War I or II. Capturing the madmen of 9/11 is justified; they must be brought to justice, and they so far have escaped, except perhaps one.

      In the interim, over 450,000 Iraqi fathers, sons, brothers, uncles, and mothers, aunts, children have been killed because of Dick Cheney's ego, and George Bush's unwitting aid to the enemy. Yes, Saddam Hussein was horrible. But then, so has been the violence of Tutsis against Hutu, the red fields of Cambodia, and so many other horrible places.

      You stop violence one situation at a time. It can be done. There is no justification for taking the life of another except in self-defense. Only animals believe otherwise, not humans that can respect feelings, or choose to ignore seeming insult.

      --
      ---- Teach Peace. It's Cheaper Than War.
    25. Re:Good by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's a lot of big words for such a little prick.

    26. Re:Good by megrims · · Score: 1

      I'm yet to see an example of working governmental democracy beyond the tribal scale.

      No, more than that: I've never seen an example of this.

      The weight of public opinion is a terrible thing, especially when it grows beyond names: it smothers the one while upholding another, and is always led by emotion.

    27. Re:Good by megrims · · Score: 1

      Name something. Chances are that you're wrong.

      Outside of the laws of physics & their consequences, most things are up for grabs.

    28. Re:Good by russotto · · Score: 1

      The biggest difference. Feel free to get mad at things you can change and influence.

      In today's society (as in most societies, historically), for most people, that's the empty set.

    29. Re:Good by fortmill · · Score: 0

      That's right, get mad and whine. But don't do anything about it. Just vent your bile on the Internet. I'll bet you're overweight, watch too much TV and have plenty of money for your video games. The maddest people I've seen are among the richest and most spoiled. And they have little shit fits when they don't get their way. I think a big problem we face is that civility and integrity have not kept pace with technology.

      Go spend a few months in Haiti and quit getting your reality from movie characters.
         

    30. Re:Good by Dripdry · · Score: 1

      Well I agree. I just played this clip for my girlfriend the other day to express to her what I think needs to happen.

      I think people need to get angry. What other way is there? Stay warm, fat, and complacent? We need reason and debate, but first the people in power need to get scared that they can't hold on to that power unless they fly straight.

      Yeah, my name is David. I'm mad as hell about a lot of stuff. I offer reasonable respect to people and don't put up with moronic crap, and I don't so much care whether people think it's wrong or insensitive. I'm a human being, dammit, and I refuse to take inhumane, degrading bullshit from people. I took enough of that from my girlfriend in college to last me the rest of my life, so no more.

      That's my story, slashdot karma be damned.

      --
      -
    31. Re:Good by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Who?

    32. Re:Good by ultranova · · Score: 1

      And when they finally do, it will be gloriously violent, as those who have been exploiting the rule of law to oppress their fellow man are hoisted by their own petard.

      Unlikely. Those who are good at exploiting law are usually pretty intelligent, so they can make it seem that Joe Scapegoat is to blame. Thus Joe Scapegoat hangs and Jack the Exploiter gets hailed as a hero and showered in gifts and praise for saving us all from Joe.

      Lynch mobs aren't known for their accuracy, after all.

      --

      Forget magic. Any technology distinguishable from divine power is insufficiently advanced.

    33. Re:Good by ultranova · · Score: 1

      On the other hand, you have a society based on the association of free men. You have co-operation and self-determination.

      What happens if a band of thieves decides that, since there's no laws there, they can simply loot the group ? Either those free men don't resist, in which case they lose everything they own, they resist separately, in which case they also lose their lives, or they resist as a group, at which point they're effectively enforcing a rule against stealing - a law, but one dependent on the whims of who happens to be more charismatic.

      You can't have any kind of society without rules of conduct, and having those rules be ambiguous and dependent on someone's whims is not an improvement over formalized ones.

      There should never be a situation where one person connives themselves to the top, then dictates that all his fellows must act according to his direction even where it is contrary to their own wishes, because the numbers say that he is in charge.

      Your precious anarchy actually promotes this kind of situation, since it removes the separation of powers, allowing some gang leader to take it all.

      --

      Forget magic. Any technology distinguishable from divine power is insufficiently advanced.

    34. Re:Good by BenoitRen · · Score: 1

      I want all of you to get up out of your chairs.

      Don't forget to throw them afterwards!

    35. Re:Good by FrozenFOXX · · Score: 1

      There's something I seem to remember reading once about being a successful evil villain that people always seem to forget is so true for any plan of any kind.

      Any plan that involves, "and then the people will rise up," is doomed to failure.

      Generally this is pretty true. Not always, but depressingly often.

      --
      "Just a fox, a whisper."
    36. Re:Good by ShieldW0lf · · Score: 1

      That's right, get mad and whine. But don't do anything about it. Just vent your bile on the Internet.

      I am doing something about it.

      For example, I'm working on building one of these: reprap.org

      And, working on building one of these: farmfountain.com

      Once I've got them, I'll start making them for friends and family and create infrastructure to facilitate the free exchange of practical designs.

      Small first steps, but steps towards independence from centralized manufacturing and centralized food production nevertheless.

      If you don't need to trade, you don't need to participate, you don't need to protest and demand they change their behavior. You can walk away from them and ignore them, in ever increasing numbers, until their power is gone. Then you've won.

      I'll bet you're overweight, watch too much TV and have plenty of money for your video games. The maddest people I've seen are among the richest and most spoiled. And they have little shit fits when they don't get their way.

      I don't have cable, don't have DVDs, don't have CDs, don't have video games that aren't open source, or any other software for that matter. I don't buy food from grocery stores, nor do I shop at malls. Instead, I have musical instruments and recording gear, cameras, video cameras, paints and easels, free creative software and free publishing tools, etc. I'm participating in an urban garden project, and what food I buy, I buy directly from farmers most of the time. I'm not a "consumer" as a general rule. I create. And the things I create, I give away.

      And, of course, I'm not fat, either.

      I think a big problem we face is that civility and integrity have not kept pace with technology.

      The big problem we face is that in the name of civility we have failed to demand that people live with integrity.

      --
      -1 Uncomfortable Truth
  14. Complaining about being anonymous is ad hominem by doconnor · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Complaining about someone being anonymous to discredit them is an ad hominem attack. Hiding their identity doesn't make their argument any worse and revealing it doesn't make it any better.

    Hiding their identity only make people more honest and allows their foolish beliefs to be addressed and discredited, which may not have been possible otherwise.

    1. Re:Complaining about being anonymous is ad hominem by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

      I totally agree with you, although I realize that does not amount to a hill of dogshit.

    2. Re:Complaining about being anonymous is ad hominem by FooBarWidget · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Then what about trolling and people who are deliberately spreading disinformation? If there are too many of them, then fighting each and every anonymous poster is going to waste a lot of time. Time that could have been used for more useful activities instead.

    3. Re:Complaining about being anonymous is ad hominem by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What if the spread of disinformation is simply because the person was misinformed by another person?

    4. Re:Complaining about being anonymous is ad hominem by Mister+Whirly · · Score: 1

      I think that is the very definition of the word. If the person spreading it knew it was false it wouldn't be "spreading disinformation". It would be "lying".

      --
      "But this one goes to 11!"
    5. Re:Complaining about being anonymous is ad hominem by Austerity+Empowers · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Why do we believe anything people write on the internet to begin with? How many fiction authors write under assumed names?

      Why do we assume the bullshit detector only gets turned on from "known false" sources. It should always be on, even when watching the nightly news.

      Fact doesn't come from people, fact comes from inanimate objects. There is value in what people write, it's just not about gaining information. Sometimes even a frothy AC has a unique perspective on something. It may be justified with total trash data, but that doesn't make the perspective invalid.

    6. Re:Complaining about being anonymous is ad hominem by jschottm · · Score: 1

      It might be an ad hominem attack (for the definition of ad hominem attack you appear to be operating under). Ad hominem attacks are generally held to be an attempt to use irrelevant personal aspect to counter an argument or statement. Being ad hominem in and of itself is not necessarily fallacious. For example:

      Person A: I don't think that smoking causes cancer.
      Person B: Well, you're male and more men than women smoke, so I don't believe you.

      The above is a fallacious ad hominem attack.

      Person A: I don't think that smoking causes cancer.
      Person B: Well, you work for Phillip Morris, so I don't believe you.

      The above is ad hominem but not fallacious and so I would not describe it as an attack.

      In this case, there's quite a bit of work that's been shows that anonymity has a substantial effect on behavior. Road rage would be a very physical example. In most first world countries, there are negative effects for speaking inappropriately, be it libel/slander lawsuits or simply having your peers and neighbors think less of you. Online communication has shown that when those kinds of accountability are removed, humans misbehave.

      That's not to say that anonymity causes everyone to behave badly or that there aren't times that anonymous attacks are useful, but it is very valid to say that anonymous attacks are generally weaker than non-anonymous ones and that anonymity can cause people to behave in ways they otherwise wouldn't.

      Or to put it another way, if you got a letter said that your $LOVED_RELATIVE had betrayed you, would you put more trust in it if it were signed (and you verified that the alleged sender was the person who had sent it) or completely anonymous? One of the corner stones of modern law is the right to confront your accuser.

    7. Re:Complaining about being anonymous is ad hominem by doconnor · · Score: 1

      Your second example is a fallacious. You should examine Person A's evidence that smoking doesn't cause cancer. If it is not valid, it should show up in the evidence, irrespective of the source.

      The only time it would be valid is if you are unable to evaluate the evidence, such as national security reason.

      We should try to find ways to deal with the misbehavior anonymity can cause, without removing it, as removing it often not effective and cause other problems. The moderation system on slashdot works fairly well. I wish it was used more widely.

    8. Re:Complaining about being anonymous is ad hominem by jschottm · · Score: 1

      You have but two facts:

      1. A person tells you that tobacco will do you no harm.
      2. The person works for the tobacco industry and will not have a job if people do not buy tobacco.

      If it is not valid, it should show up in the evidence, irrespective of the source.

      Damage may still be done, regardless of truth or evidence. Witness the number of people who believe to this day that Obama is Muslim. I repeat, lack of consequences had a demonstrated tendency to cause people to act out.

      The only time it would be valid is if you are unable to evaluate the evidence, such as national security reason.

      Very little can ever be conclusively proven. Statistics are easily subtly twisted.

      We should try to find ways to deal with the misbehavior anonymity can cause, without removing it, as removing it often not effective and cause other problems.

      The statement that anonymity should be removed is a straw man of your own construction. As far as I can tell, no one in the article advocated removing anonymity.

      The moderation system on slashdot works fairly well. I wish it was used more widely.

      The moderation system works somewhat well. And I say that as someone with high karma who gets showered in mod points. However, the moderation system's primary advantage is by hiding most trolls and frist posts. Do you know how? By removing anonymity - very little AC content gets upmodded to the point that most people see it. On the other hand, it excels at promoting the /. groupthink.

  15. anonymity is like in Groundhog Day... by Tumbleweed · · Score: 1

    Combine "No Consequences" with human nature, and you'd be an idiot to expect anything different. Just wait until someone invents PFP/IP (poo flinging protocol/internet protocol), and you'll REALLY see what humans are capable of.

  16. Get on the phone by pubjames · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Whenever I get an angry work-related email I immediately get on the phone to the person. It is amazing the difference when speaking on the phone, often the person will very quickly become quite apologetic for their email when you phone them.

    1. Re:Get on the phone by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Yes, those annoying anonymous corporate emails with names and phone numbers.

    2. Re:Get on the phone by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ...And then cuss and swear about you under their breath, after the call ends.

      After you get run over in the parking garage, if you survive be sure to mock whoever did it.

    3. Re:Get on the phone by Dan541 · · Score: 1

      That's interesting, I just hang up.

      The best is when someone sends an abuse email under the belief that your wont receive it for several hours. Until you pull your phone out in front of them.

      --
      An SQL query goes to a bar, walks up to a table and asks, "Mind if I join you?"
  17. Fuck You All! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I've been waiting awhile for this moment, but it feels so much better to finally let it out!

  18. one thing that can be done about it by ronbohn · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Yeah it's really ridiculous how some people act. I've noticed racism is a real biggie for gamers. I think most people out there mean well, but it seems that sometimes this stuff can have a snowball effect...one person says something, then another. I say try to cut it off at the source so when somebody says something really ignorant, just be like "dude that's not cool"

    1. Re:one thing that can be done about it by Hognoxious · · Score: 5, Funny

      snowball

      The correct term is "caucasian". "European American" or even "white person" are acceptable alternatives.

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    2. Re:one thing that can be done about it by ronbohn · · Score: 0, Redundant

      A "snowball" is a term used to describe an affect of exponential increase, not a person. In this instance, I was referring to a people "chiming" in on negative things. Sorry for the misunderstanding; I was not being racist or intentionally offending.

    3. Re:one thing that can be done about it by laejoh · · Score: 1, Funny

      Can you turn it into a verb?

    4. Re:one thing that can be done about it by gnick · · Score: 4, Insightful

      A "snowball" is a term used to describe an affect of exponential increase, not a person.

      Snowball was a character in Clerks - The opening plot point to a rather uncomfortable scene. I find it distasteful (pun intended) that you feel the need to bring him up here. However if you were instead referring to the Trotsky-pig from Animal Farm you are entirely forgiven - That is a fine example of a large group turning on their victim due to mob mentality and a malicious leader acting as a catalyst.

      --
      He's getting rather old, but he's a good mouse.
    5. Re:one thing that can be done about it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Thank God the internets didn't fail before you could explain that, or your representation may have been tarnished forever

    6. Re:one thing that can be done about it by rk · · Score: 1

      yhbt. hth. hand.

    7. Re:one thing that can be done about it by rhizome · · Score: 1

      I've noticed racism is a real biggie for gamers.

      Another way to look at it is through the lens of anonymity. In online gaming there is no way to tell if your opponents and team members are disabled, deaf, a different race, gender, or anything. This means that racial, sexual, gender and all the other base insults lose a lot of their effectiveness. This doesn't mean that a gay person who happens to be called a fag online wouldn't be offended by that, but they would (hopefully) realize that absent specific knowledge there's no way the person who calls someone a fag online would know that the person they're attacking is in fact gay, or black, or whatever. So while the receiver can be offended, it's important to note that it's unlikely that the attacker meant it personally.

      Then again, as an anecdotal counterexample, when I used to play UT a lot there was little tolerance for Asian and Engrish epithets, so perhaps the effectiveness of verbal attacks are affected by demographics.

      --
      When I was a kid, we only had one Darth.
    8. Re:one thing that can be done about it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      --->
       
        o
      /|\
      / \

    9. Re:one thing that can be done about it by nschubach · · Score: 1

      That would make sense, except today you can get on a voice chat server and pretty much identify what race the person is on the other end by their voice, choice of words, or accent. (At least here in America where people think they need to keep their heritage/accent alive.)

      --
      Every time I start to have faith in humanity, I ruin it by driving to work between 7 and 8 am.
    10. Re:one thing that can be done about it by gstoddart · · Score: 1

      The correct term is "caucasian". "European American" or even "white person" are acceptable alternatives.

      But, "cracker" and "whitey" are still OK, right? ;-)

      Cheers

      --
      Lost at C:>. Found at C.
    11. Re:one thing that can be done about it by MR.Mic · · Score: 1

      ...and reveal to ragers and trolls exactly what buttons to press to get you angry.

    12. Re:one thing that can be done about it by Joe+the+Lesser · · Score: 1

      5 is right out.

      --
      "I only speak the truth"
      Karma: null(Mostly affected by an unassigned variable)
    13. Re:one thing that can be done about it by jacquesm · · Score: 1

      instant classic

    14. Re:one thing that can be done about it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Insightful in a funny thread.. again. Mods, read the whole thread before modding. For fuck sake.

    15. Re:one thing that can be done about it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I am so sick and tired of all these PC Bullshit.

      Why can't the niggas call honkies the crackers they are?!

    16. Re:one thing that can be done about it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You mean being called a nigger?

      The word is pretty much losing its racist connotations. I play xboxlive quite regularly, and I'm constantly being called a cocksucking jewish nigger faggot or some variation of this. They don't even know who I am or what I look like. Half the time they don't even know what I sound like.

      But they still say it.

      Gamers are not using these insults to racially abuse black people. They are using these insults to insult. That's the whole point - they want to make you angry. They don't care about the color of your skin, they care only about making you angry. Another example where these terms being misused is 4chan - where everyone is a fag. Tripfags, namefags, halofags, gunfags, tourneyfags, touhoufags, the list goes on and on. People describe themselves as a fag. "I'm a consolefag, and..."

      It's just evolution of the English language. The next time someone calls you a fucking buttsucking jew faggot in counterstrike, keep in mind that it doesn't necessarily mean they are racist and homophobic, just that they hate you.

    17. Re:one thing that can be done about it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Cut it off at the source... why would you consider wholesale slaughter of minorities to be the solution for online racial slurs?

  19. In other CNN news.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Large amounts of money allow you to buy stuff.

    Water is wet, and the sun is hot.

    People die when they are killed.

  20. Tolling has been around for ages, but... by Anik315 · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    Most people in America are angrier than usual due to the worsening economic conditions caused by Bush's oil war which bankrupted the nation. That's what's really being reflected on the web. Bush and Cheney are basically war criminials. I'm hoping people take it their rage at the voting booths.

    1. Re:Tolling has been around for ages, but... by Z34107 · · Score: 4, Funny

      Most people in America are angrier than usual due to the worsening economic conditions caused by Bush's oil war which bankrupted the nation. That's what's really being reflected on the web. Bush and Cheney are basically war criminials. I'm hoping people take it their rage at the voting booths.

      Oooh, mad libs!

      Most people in America are sillier than usual due to the diabetes caused by Bush's evil, putrid, orphan-exploiting existence which caffeinated the nation. That's what's really being monkeyed on the web. Bush and Cheney are basically evil, putrid, orphan-exploiters. I'm hoping people take it their rage at the carnival.

      But, I think my version made more sense.

      --
      DATABASE WOW WOW
    2. Re:Tolling has been around for ages, but... by dedazo · · Score: 1

      The nation is not bankrupt and the crisis was caused mostly by the credit bubble, not the war, although excessive spending due to said war does contribute to the federal deficit, which in turn has a ripple effect on other things, like the value of the dollar.

      --
      Web2.0: I love when people Flickr my cuil and digg my boingboing until my google is reddit and I start to yahoo
    3. Re:Tolling has been around for ages, but... by D+Ninja · · Score: 1

      Oooh, mad libs!

      Until I read the rest of your post, I wasn't sure if you were talking about the book that you buy and fill in nouns and adverbs and such, or if you were talking about the Democrats.

    4. Re:Tolling has been around for ages, but... by rk · · Score: 2, Funny

      But, I think my version made more sense.

      I don't know if it made more sense, but I think it would make a better movie.

    5. Re:Tolling has been around for ages, but... by Anik315 · · Score: 1

      That's because you're a moron

    6. Re:Tolling has been around for ages, but... by Anik315 · · Score: 1

      God, I fucking hate Republicans.

    7. Re:Tolling has been around for ages, but... by Anik315 · · Score: 1

      But seriosuly... Bush and Cheney ARE war criminals. They DID launch an oil war which bankrupted the nation. And Republicans ARE going to to get fucking destroyed for generations tomorrow.

    8. Re:Tolling has been around for ages, but... by msoori · · Score: 1

      Cmon, whats a Bush and a Dick to do really, other than screw? I only hope that an old man and a hot chick wont do the same for the next 4 years.

    9. Re:Tolling has been around for ages, but... by Norwell+Bob · · Score: 1

      God, I fucking hate Republicans.

      Why?

  21. there's plenty to be upset about by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    which could lead to difficulty expressing one's thoughts/feelings in a 'friendly pleasant' manner?

    greed, fear & ego (in any order) are unprecedented evile's primary weapons. those, along with deception & coercion, helps most of us remain (unwittingly?) dependent on its' life0cidal hired goons' agenda. most of yOUR dwindling resources are being squandered on the 'wars', & continuation of the billionerrors stock markup FraUD/pyramid schemes. nobody ever mentions the real long term costs of those debacles in both life & any notion of prosperity for us, or our children, not to mention the abuse of the consciences of those of us who still have one. see you on the other side of it. the lights are coming up all over now. conspiracy theorists are being vindicated. some might choose a tin umbrella to go with their hats. the fairytail is winding down now. let your conscience be yOUR guide. you can be more helpful than you might have imagined. there are still some choices. if they do not suit you, consider the likely results of continuing to follow the corepirate nazi hypenosys story LIEn, whereas anything of relevance is replaced almost instantly with pr ?firm? scriptdead mindphuking propaganda or 'celebrity' trivia 'foam'. meanwhile; don't forget to get a little more oxygen on yOUR brain, & look up in the sky from time to time, starting early in the day. there's lots going on up there.

    we note that yahoo deletes some of its' (relevant) stories sooner than others. maybe they're short of disk space, or something?
    http://news.google.com/?ncl=1216734813&hl=en&topic=n
    http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/science/09/23/what.matters.thirst/index.html
    http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/31/opinion/31mon1.html?em&ex=1199336400&en=c4b5414371631707&ei=5087%0A
    (deleted)http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080918/ap_on_re_us/tent_cities;_ylt=A0wNcyS6yNJIZBoBSxKs0NUE
    http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/29/world/29amnesty.html?hp
    http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/06/02/nasa.global.warming.ap/index.html
    http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/weather/06/05/severe.weather.ap/index.html
    http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/weather/06/02/honore.preparedness/index.html
    http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/science/09/28/what.matters.meltdown/index.html#cnnSTCText
    http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/books/10/07/atwood.debt/index.html
    http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/01/opinion/01dowd.html?em&ex=1212638400&en=744b7cebc86723e5&ei=5087%0A
    http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/06/05/senate.iraq/index.html
    http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/17/washington/17contractor.html?hp
    http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/03/world/middleeast/03kurdistan.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin
    (deleted, still in google cache)http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080708/cheney_climate.html
    http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/20080805/pl_politico/12308;_ylt=A0wNcxTPdJhILAYAVQms0NUE
    http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/09/18/voting.problems/index.html
    (deleted)http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080903/ts_nm/environment_arctic_dc;_ylt=A0wNcwhhcb5It3EBoy2s0NUE
    (talk about cowardlly race fixing/bad theater/fiction?) http://money.cnn.com/2008/09/19/news/economy/sec_short_selling/index.htm?cnn=yes
    http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/_ylt=ApTbxRfLnscxaGGuCocWlwq7YWsA/SIG=11qicue6l/**http%3A//biz.yahoo.com/ap/081006/meltdown_kashkari.html
    http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/04/opinion/04sat1.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
    (the teaching of hate as a way of 'life' synonymous with failed dictatorships) http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081004/ap_on_re_us/newspapers_islam_dvd;_ylt=A0wNcwWdfudITHkACAus0NUE
    (some yoga & yogurt makes killing/getting killed less stressful) http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081007/ap_on_re_us/warrior_mind;_ylt=A0wNcw9iXutIPkMBwzGs0NUE
    (the old bait & switch...your share of the resulting 'product' is a fairytail nightmare?)
    http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081011/ap_on_bi_ge/where_s_the_money;_ylt=A0wNcwJGwvFIZAQAE6ms0NUE

    is it time to get real yet? A LOT of energy is being squandered in attempts to keep US in the dark. in the end (give or take a few 1

  22. The web needs a mute button by rubber+side+down · · Score: 1

    While I don't spend a great deal of time reading or posting in forums that have large troll populations (*cough*), I run into this all the time on Xbox Live. I would estimate that roughly 60% of the players I encounter overall are obnoxious assess, and that number gets exponentially larger for some reason when playing FPS titles. The beauty is that I can mute them all easily, at which point they essentially no longer exist. This would be a great feature for any forum as well: the ability to select users who's posts you never want to see again. This way your aggrivation level would be considerably lower on any given day. Unless you get off on that sort of thing.....

  23. Easy by HalAtWork · · Score: 3, Insightful

    When you say something in anger in meatspace, people hold you accountable and may consider what you say as threatening, and there can be consequences, especially in the workspace. Also, people want an audience, and when they're really pissed off they want everyone to know about it. This stuff can be healthy. Of course there are other people where the anger grows inside them and they just post snide remarks and try to piss on peoples' parades and ruin people's days, these people feed their anger and become bitter. It's all about why you're doing it and if you're trying to get rid of some angry feelings and vent, or if you're festering.

  24. lean yobwoc must be pissing himself laughing by zappepcs · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    I know the editors are sitting there thinking how much fun this story would be... must be nice to have an easy Monday morning at work

  25. Re:Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory by maxume · · Score: 5, Funny

    Nice job asshole, somebody already posted that fucking link.

    --
    Nerd rage is the funniest rage.
  26. Tolling has been around for ages, but... (edited) by Anik315 · · Score: 0

    Most people in America are angrier than usual due to the worsening economic conditions caused by Bush's oil war which has bankrupted the nation. That's what's really being reflected on the web. Bush and Cheney are basically war criminials. I'm hoping people take their rage at the voting booths.

  27. YOU RAGE YOU LOSE by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    RAGEEeee

  28. Anonymous anger? by Wowsers · · Score: 1

    I'd like to show you all anonymous anger, but then I'd decrease my chance of +ve mod points score.

    --
    Take Nobody's Word For It.
  29. CNN is a story by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    CNN is a story

    How does it end?!

    1. Re:CNN is a story by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      badly, you asshole!

  30. HRGLGRGL by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    AAAAARGH

    SFDI#$%*&EWROIGFDHKZSDF

    Shit! Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit!

  31. catharsis by circletimessquare · · Score: 0, Redundant

    that which is released harmlessly online is not released in the real world

    therefore, online rage leads to less real world rage

    --
    intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
  32. When the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor by Hognoxious · · Score: 5, Funny

    "I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!!"

    I agree. What this calls for is a really stupid and futile gesture on somebody's part.

    --
    Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    1. Re:When the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor by 1u3hr · · Score: 1

      Or a road trip.

    2. Re:When the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor by ConceptJunkie · · Score: 1

      That's all most protesting these days really is. No one is impressed if you can gather up a few tens of thousands of people with no jobs to stand around and chant. All that proves is that daytime TV is awful. That doesn't mean it can't be influential (or at least noticed), just that you're going to have to do a little more than call a meeting of a bunch of whiners to make your point.

      Protesting was done better and more constructively in the past. If people want to make a statement there needs to be something better than standing around acting angry about it.

      --
      You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike.
    3. Re:When the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor by BorgCopyeditor · · Score: 1

      I agree. What this calls for is a really stupid and futile gesture on somebody's part.

      One could, for example--and I'm speaking purely hypothetically here--bust up a Starbucks.

      --
      Shop as usual. And avoid panic buying.
    4. Re:When the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor by eclectro · · Score: 1

      I agree. What this calls for is a really stupid and futile gesture on somebody's part.

      Like a boycott??

      --
      Take the cheese to sickbay, the doctor should see it as soon as possible - B'Elanna Torres, "Learning Curve"
    5. Re:When the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor by R3d+M3rcury · · Score: 1, Interesting

      Or a toga party.

    6. Re:When the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor by Hyperspite · · Score: 1

      What do you suggest?

    7. Re:When the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor by nine-times · · Score: 1

      Part of the problem is that protesters now have a tendency to just do what they're allowed. They go to an approved protest area, chant, and then leave.

      What people sometimes fail to realize is that this completely misses the point. The point of lots of past protests to go where you're not supposed to go and do what you're not supposed to do, to challenge those your protesting against to act.

      When Gandhi collected salt in the Salt Satyagraha, he was breaking the law. Martin Luther King supposedly chose where to protest based on where he thought his followers could elicit a violent reaction from his political enemies without being violent themselves.

      The point is to force your enemies into a position where they have to either concede their position or act in a way that's publicly immoral toward you, without you acting immorally toward them. If you have a moral audience, the spectacle will turn the audience against against your enemies.

      However, the whole thing is usually going to include some suffering on the part of the protestors. If you're protesting this way, you might get beaten or locked up or even killed. You might have to martyr yourself. Most people don't have it in them to do that. Most people just want to go out, have a picnic, chant for a little while, try to pick up hippie chicks, and then go home and sleep in a warm bed.

    8. Re:When the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor by 53FC · · Score: 1

      The German..... didn't bomb Pearl Harbor~!

  33. hm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    [img]http://hweifusd.hw.funpic.de/smile.jpg[/img]

  34. "Rampant" is probably not correct. by hey! · · Score: 2, Informative

    Unless people are posting at standing desks using some kind of gestural input, I doubt that much Internet rage takes place rampant.

    It's much more likely that most Internet rage takes place sejant erect .

    --
    Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
    1. Re:"Rampant" is probably not correct. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      erect this *grabs dick*

    2. Re:"Rampant" is probably not correct. by sapphire+wyvern · · Score: 1

      Dammit, now I want to vote couchant.

  35. Re:Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This whole article is full of off-topic comments.
    FUCK!

  36. E-aggression? by PontifexMaximus · · Score: 5, Funny

    WTF? Do we need to put an E (or I) in front of every-bloody-thing that might occur online? I mean really? There is no difference between 'aggression' and 'e-aggression' except for where it happens. I mean, if I get pissed off about something in the loo, is that 'P-aggression'? Or if I'm pissed at a strip club is that 'DD-aggression'?

    I mean, can't you n00bs stop that crap?

    --
    Pax Vobiscum
    1. Re:E-aggression? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes, we have to put the e in order to compete with Apple. We can't put an i on things (like iRage or iPee or iTroll) because we might be sued by Apple for iNFringement of their iNTellectual iProperty. iFor one think this is iNtolerable state of iAffairs. But, I am even now getting an iCease and iDesist iLetter...

    2. Re:E-aggression? by BotnetZombie · · Score: 0, Troll

      WHY DO YOU HATE E-AMERICA???

    3. Re:E-aggression? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      E-shut the e-fuck up.

    4. Re:E-aggression? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There is no difference between 'aggression' and 'e-aggression' except that the latter gets more points in Scrabble.

      Fixed.

    5. Re:E-aggression? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      SCREW YOU! it's e-n00bs

    6. Re:E-aggression? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I would, but I'm just an eN00b

  37. CNN Is the one with the anger problem... by Troll14 · · Score: 0

    I find this article absolutely ridiculous. First they come out saying that childhood aggression and video games are linked, and now this? Me, and many of my teen friends play video games as a stress reliever, a chance to get away from school and the other tiring things in daily life. What there saying might be true in some kids, but definitely not all as they portray it to be. Typical mainstream media.

    --
    "Mama always said life was like a box a chocolates, never know what you're gonna get" - Forest Gump
  38. The opposite can also be true by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I've found that the ability for a community to moderate comments with ratings has helped me to control my anger and express myself better.

  39. Reason to be angry. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I can't figure out what makes me angrier: my habit of anonymously trolling web forums, or my video game playing.

    Perhaps it's your abnormally small penis? :-)

  40. read the examples of internet hate they mention by stormguard2099 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I know most wont rtfa but my god the examples they use are hillariously bad. I was expecting whole sentences constructed out of *s+ 3 or 4 letters but no. It was talking about how celebrities had a flamewar or two online or one politician used a racial slur and surprise surprise, it got reported online.

    the only decent example was the myspace girl who commited suicide, meagan.

    im not sure i want to listen to a major news corp that cant even find decent examples of anon hate online. i mean jesus christ, just pick any slashdot and browse at -1!

    --
    http://greenobyl.com/ please.... think of the children!!
    1. Re:read the examples of internet hate they mention by demachina · · Score: 1

      I submit this classic angry post from yesterday. Slashdot is a far better laboratory for this kind of thing. In 2004 half of America was in this kind of blind rage over Bush and now the other half is in a blind rage over Obama. It is a little hard to fathom how a Republican would find a way to rationalize a defense of their party after the last eight year but cognitive dissonance is quite a strange phenomena. I'm sure in four or eight years Democrats will be defending their party after they've been thrown out of office for committing a different but equally outrageous set of atrocities.

      --
      @de_machina
    2. Re:read the examples of internet hate they mention by djdavetrouble · · Score: 1

      I read that classic and angry post, then the OP's posting history. This guy is railing
      and even admits in a separate thread that he is not voting. Classic indeed.

      Back in the 80's when I spent too much time on USENET, I would get
      great pleasure from reading the threads that began as "discussions"
      and devolved into all out flame wars. It was like watching a slow motion
      train wreck.

      --
      music lover since 1969
    3. Re:read the examples of internet hate they mention by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      or they could just go to any *chan website.

  41. people mistake terse for hostile by petes_PoV · · Score: 1
    The problem with written communication (esp. where the language used is learned later, not one's native language) is that it misses out all the nuances that come from speech. As such, people's forum, email, web, blog entries are often considered rude - when in reality they are just being economical with words, or do not have the vocabulary or cultural background to "hook up" with the reader.

    As we all become more experienced with written internet communication, hopefully we'll all become more forgiving of others' expressions.

    Personally, when I insult someone on the internet, I make sure there can be no doubt they realise they're being insulted. Maybe we need an HTML tag, just to make sure. If it's not present, then no insult was intended

    --
    politicians are like babies' nappies: they should both be changed regularly and for the same reasons
    1. Re:people mistake terse for hostile by BotnetZombie · · Score: 1

      Your mother is an hamster and your father smells of elderberries!

      <insult>Oops, almost forgot</insult>

  42. Racism I've encountered online by CristalShandaLear · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Nowhere have I found more anger than in yahoo hearts.

    For the most part online, I find people to be fairly polite if not a little more crude or pointed than they would be in real life. On message boards, chat rooms, even places like FARK - there are always rules and people bend the boundaries to breaking but the die-hard bigots are truly a dying breed. Then again, maybe it's just a matter of all out flame wars and such being ended by admins and such before they really get started anymore.

    But even in something as simple as yahoo hearts, I have found the most bigoted, racist, discriminatory people you ever want to meet. I mean one day, the host of table playing Yahoo Graffiti was booting anyone that had a brown person icon. Or in Yahoo hearts people are quick to use the n-word and such.

    However by the same token, I have never encountered racism playing Yahoo Literati. And I find it speaks volumes that people who would play a game that that is related to words and depth of vocabulary and knowledge would be the very people to be the kindest and most interesting people I've encountered online.

    I wholeheartedly believe that there is direct relationship between IQ and the level of every day bigotry and racism expressed by any given individual. I believe the same co-relation between those who are rich and/or powerful as this does not necessarily relate to intelligence - or that those who are rich, powerful and intelligent use tools such as racism and bigotry to manipulate those who are none of those things.

    I guess I always wonder - what truly is the point of being a bigot or racist? Oh well....more observations that really any information here.

    1. Re:Racism I've encountered online by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And I find it speaks volumes that people who would play a game that that is related to words and depth of vocabulary and knowledge would be the very people to be the kindest and most interesting people I've encountered online. I wholeheartedly believe that there is direct relationship between IQ and the level of every day bigotry and racism expressed by any given individual.

      Wow, what an elitist you are ;-)

    2. Re:Racism I've encountered online by Beyond_GoodandEvil · · Score: 1

      I guess I always wonder - what truly is the point of being a bigot or racist? Oh well....more observations that really any information here.
      I have a better question when did racism leap above pedophilia on the scale of bad things to do/be called. And how long until we have a corollary to Godwin's Law replacing Nazi w/ racist. Perhaps then when real racism occurs(Jim Crow, Apartheid S. Africa, Ethnic Cleansing, etc.) people will take it seriously rather than the use of "folks" to describe people being construed as racism.

      --
      I laughed at the weak who considered themselves good because they lacked claws.
    3. Re:Racism I've encountered online by megamerican · · Score: 1

      Nowhere have I found more anger than in yahoo hearts.

      You've obviously never played Hello Kitty Island Adventure.

      --
      If you have something that you dont want anyone to know, maybe you shouldnt be doing it in the first place -Eric Schmidt
  43. Road Rage by WorkingDead · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The same goes for road rage. You would never run down the hallway at work, while on your cell phone, yelling at all the other people who are not full out sprinting. But you sure would on your way there in the morning.

    1. Re:Road Rage by PRMan · · Score: 3, Insightful

      But they would never cut right in front of you and slow down so much as to impede your progress while another person walked at a similar speed blocking the rest of the hallway. And at worse, if they did this (for instance, standing in a doorway) a mere "excuse me" would let you by to continue on faster.

      It's precisely because the roadway doesn't mirror the hallway that people get so frustrated. I have seen some pretty nasty episodes in the lines at Costco.

      --
      Peter predicted that you would "deliberately forget" creation 2000 years ago...
    2. Re:Road Rage by nschubach · · Score: 1

      Precisely... If I saw a person running at me in the hallway, I'd likely get the fuck out of the way (as I do and expect others to do on the road.) You don't know why that person is running fast, but you know they have a reason. Maybe they cut off their finger and are rushing to the hospital/nurse.

      --
      Every time I start to have faith in humanity, I ruin it by driving to work between 7 and 8 am.
    3. Re:Road Rage by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      You would never run down the hallway at work, while on your cell phone, yelling at all the other people who are not full out sprinting.

      Where do you work? It sounds like a nice place...

    4. Re:Road Rage by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I might if I was stuck in the hallway with 300 other people and I knew it would take me an hour to get to the bathroom to pee....

    5. Re:Road Rage by achenaar · · Score: 1

      You would never run down the hallway at work, while on your cell phone, yelling at all the other people who are not full out sprinting.

      Depends if it's Chicken Kiev day at the cafeteria...

    6. Re:Road Rage by pileated · · Score: 1

      Cars and the internet are very similar: they lead people to think that they have more power than they really do and so they act as though they have this power, stating things that they'd never say face to face and driving in a way that they wouldn't if running down a hallway with real people. The anonymous internet can make anyone think that they are King Pundit himself. Cars turn 90 pound weaklings into 2 ton goliaths. Both fool people into thinking that they are far more powerful than they really are.

      In both cases people are isolated from their environment and think that they are more powerful than they are. They do and say very stupid and rude things. But just what would happen if the police visited their house because they said something a little too strong to the wrong person, or if they actually hit someone in the middle of exercising their road rage? I think reality would come crashing down and they'd realize that their fantasies were much more violent than they would like their real life to be. And they have far less power than they thought that they had.

      Unfortunately there's something with both the internet and cars that encourages very bad anti-social behavior. This isn't justifiable anger. It's cowardly anti-social behavior. And it's generally done anonymously. If someone says something angry and at least uses his name I have a lot more respect for them. Attacking the anonymous angerphiliac is not an ad hominem attack because there's no hominem to attack. But I digress. My point is that anonymity leads people to say things more strongly and more rudely than they would if they actually used their name. And in that sense it just makes the internet and worse place to be.

      My hope is that most websites will eventually drop all comments, or at least institute a somewhat functional ranking system such as slashdots. Otherwise people will eventually just give up. The rude junk that passes for comments just isn't worth the time.

    7. Re:Road Rage by Dan541 · · Score: 1

      But you can't grab the car infront of you and slam it into the wall as you pass either.

      --
      An SQL query goes to a bar, walks up to a table and asks, "Mind if I join you?"
    8. Re:Road Rage by Dan541 · · Score: 1

      Try rushing someone to hospital via car.

      There is always some stupid cunt who want to hit their brakes when your right behind them.

      People need to learn if a car is tail gating you are simply too slow and should get out of the way.

      --
      An SQL query goes to a bar, walks up to a table and asks, "Mind if I join you?"
  44. Without Anonomous There is Censorship. by jimwelch · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I have found that most people will not state their opinions if they are forced to sign them. The consequences of a opinion can be far more severe than is justified from those in power. Too often those in power, abuse power. Which side you are on, does not matter, both side have a fringe that goes off the deep end. For a few examples, see Nixon, J. Edgar Hoover, College Faculty (tenure granting is power). Ben Franklin had to use a pseudo-name so he would not be arrested. Writers during the witch hunts of the McCarthy era. Women writers had to pretend to be men to get published.

    Anonymous is very useful! If you use is wisely! Put forth your arguments clearly and logically. Stir the emotions only as needed. Leave the hate behind. Leave the anger behind.

    --
    Never trust a man wearing a coat and tie!
    1. Re:Without Anonomous There is Censorship. by halcyon1234 · · Score: 1

      Ben Franklin had to use a pseudo-name so he would not be arrested.

      For the record, the name was C-Note

    2. Re:Without Anonomous There is Censorship. by PCM2 · · Score: 1

      I have found that most people will not state their opinions if they are forced to sign them.

      If true, this is very disappointing to me. I was taught from a very young age that if you have anything to say, you sign it. Sign it and date it. You may well be totally off-base and somebody may call you to task for it, but if so, that's life. It may not feel great to get called to account for your opinions all the time, but one day you will realize that you've become a person with integrity.

      --
      Breakfast served all day!
    3. Re:Without Anonomous There is Censorship. by jimwelch · · Score: 1

      "get called to account" - sounds like what happens if you lie. What if you tell the truth, but are punished? In a small town, you can get fired or demoted, for speaking out at a city council meeting, as the BIG corporation really runs the town.

      This is how "you become a person with integrity?" Jobless but integrity. If anonymity was good enough for Ben Franklin, it is good enough for me.

      --
      Never trust a man wearing a coat and tie!
    4. Re:Without Anonomous There is Censorship. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      FUCK OFF CUNT!

  45. Like misbehaved children, it's about the parents by Legion_SB · · Score: 1

    Or, in this case, the moderation.

    I am a member of a number of sites that enforce a very simple, yet very firm, code of conduct. If you cannot behave like a civil human being, you are out. Period. It's not done punitively, but rather in a very calm and matter-of-fact manner.

    People can say "don't feed the trolls" all they want, but it's no replacement for real moderation. In the absence of the social consequences that exist in a real, in-person social experience, something else needs to step in to help give the correcting nudge to facilitate good behavior all around.

    --
    'a';DROP TABLE users; SELECT * FROM DATA WHERE name LIKE '%'... if you're reading this, it didn't work.
  46. BULLSHIT!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    WTF!!! WHO WRITES THIS CRAP! EVERY time i see an article online like this I just want to HUNT DOWN THE ASSHOLE THAT WROTE IT and CHOKE THE LIFE OUT OF HIM!!!

    Some people are SO STUPID!

  47. Re:Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Fuck you, at least he's trying to post something constructive.

    Dickwad.

  48. for the uninitiated... by DragonTHC · · Score: 1

    Trolling and anger on the internet lead to more trolling and watching porn.

    If there are people who are taking their rage offline, those people need anger management help.

    For the rest of us, trolling and playing violent video games IS anger management.

    --
    They're using their grammar skills there.
  49. The Source by mlingojones · · Score: 0

    Wow, CNN is on a roll today!

  50. BBC Have Your Say by pzs · · Score: 1

    The BBC Have Your Say debates are evidence that this phenomenon is not confined to angry teenagers. Those guys seem to be able to spew bile about everything in the name of honest dissent or political protest. It's actually pretty sad.

    They also forced Russel Brand to resign from Radio 2, even though only 2 people actually complained about his obscene phone calls:

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7694989.stm

    1. Re:BBC Have Your Say by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If HYS worries you then you'll find comfort in Speak Your Branes:
      http://ifyoulikeitsomuchwhydontyougolivethere.com/

  51. This post makes me so mad by xgr3gx · · Score: 1

    RRRRRRRRRRAAAAAA!
    Anger management makes me so mad!
    Posting comments enrages me!
    I'm going to go play Postal 2!

    --
    Shameless plug alert: Game server control panel
  52. A quote: by vecctor · · Score: 1

    I have no idea where it's from, but this has always stuck with me:

    "The internet is just a place where everyone goes to bitch about things."

    --
    Why, yes I have been touched by His noodly appendage. And I plan to sue.
    1. Re:A quote: by bughunter · · Score: 1

      I carry a similar quote with lost attribution:

      Posting on the internet is as easy as writing on a bathroom wall.

      --
      I can see the fnords!
  53. Re:Tolling has been around for ages, but... (edite by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Bush and Cheney are basically war criminials. I'm hoping people take their rage at the voting booths.

    And do what? Neither Bush or Cheney are running, and neither of the main candidates are likely to call them on it.

  54. Solution by Peregr1n · · Score: 2, Interesting

    The politest, friendliest, most trustworthy forum I belong to forces you to register with your real name. As it's linked to a commerce system, I imagine they can double-check it with the credit details they have on file for me. I know a lot of people would hate this, but I love it - everyone on there thinks very carefully before posting.

    1. Re:Solution by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      1. Steal someone's identity
      2. Find said forum or something similar
      3. ?????
      4. SHITCOCK

  55. Who you gonna call? by mr_josh · · Score: 1

    With all of this anger and unfocused rage, is there any doubt that we'll be entering in to a sort of "Ghost Busters II" event very soon? Could The Tubes be used to transport a River of Slime?

  56. How about too many rules in the real world? (duh) by startxxx · · Score: 0

    How about a real world without immediate mindless consequences, bureaucracy, violence and police mishandle.. people have a lot to complain about... (duh)

  57. Re:Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So people are going to vote him down for what may have been a ONE SECOND (or one minute) DELAY!? (*:17 v/s *:18?) You assholes make me sick, screw off .. hosers. Always taking your shit out on others..

  58. Raging hormones? by cylcyl · · Score: 1

    I guess anonymity makes doing a age demographics on anger difficult. But I wonder if rage is more prevalent for pubescent teens looking for an avenue to vent than any other group and whether they would "grow" out of it.

  59. Anonymous Cowards... by MikeDirnt69 · · Score: 1

    ...can't get bad Karma.

    --
    Am I eval()? - http://www.monst3r.com.br
    1. Re:Anonymous Cowards... by Dan541 · · Score: 1

      Thats a pretty stupid system. Posting as AC should cost Karma.

      --
      An SQL query goes to a bar, walks up to a table and asks, "Mind if I join you?"
  60. Hi I'm Cnn and... by SeeSp0tRun · · Score: 1

    I've travelled all the way out here to my livingroom... And you won't believe what I've found... The Internet! Way to go CNN.

    --
    Something witty.
  61. Ya Don't Say... by JoeSixpack00 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Online anger has resulted in real-life violence?

    Most people are jerks online because it won't get them a punch in the face. 99% of the crap people say to you would never get said in person, because it'll likely result in an ass kicking. Literally 0% of the things I've been called have never been said towards me in person.

    And I don't need a study to tell me that. I learned that 10 years ago when the rudest people online wouldn't even reveal their IP address - yet alone their real identity. I went from an ircx chat server to an ircd with masked ips with the same group of people and everyone all of a sudden became John Wayne.

  62. Comfortably Enraged by dwarg · · Score: 1

    While I agree with all the excuses cited for why people feel justified in acting like a D-Bag online, I have a different theory for the cause. If you've ever been fortunate enough to know a hard working person, and I mean a really hard working person, that isn't making a lot of money than you've often met a person that is strangely positive about life.

    Paradoxically is seems to be the people living comfortable lives, that have time to sit around and post on websites or play lots of video games, that are the most angry. I don't believe it's the games or online anonymity that makes them angry as much as a sense of futility, or not having anything better to do with their time. People that work a lot or have productive hobbies seem a lot happier in general.

    There's an interesting book, that I actually haven't read yet, called "The Progress Paradox: How Life Gets Better While People Feel Worse". The most interesting citation I've heard from this book is that according to studies quadriplegics have a more positive outlook on life than millionaires.

    I've extrapolated this out figuring that those people that don't have time, or have better things to do, than sweat the small stuff are going to be a lot happier than those wasting their precious time on meaningless entertainment.

  63. Universal Internet Equation by gsslay · · Score: 0, Redundant

    It's the Universal Internet Equation that every online forum has to cope with;

    Anonymity + Audience + No Consequences = Total A***hole

    Remove any element of the above and you'll find people are much more agreeable. It also explains the other online rule of DNFTT, as that removes the second element.

  64. Re:Tolling has been around for ages, but... (edite by The+Redster! · · Score: 1

    Not to mention they're BOTH running on the "I'm not Bush" ticket.

  65. News rants on random crap by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Finally the news has something new to rant on other than 4chan and its trolls. This is just another on of those stories they do for filler inbetween all the election crap. For example i saw a news broadcast on rattle snakes in texas......

    1. Re:News rants on random crap by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I was actually rather shocked there was no mention of 4chan.

      Oh wait, it is Fox that has some weird obsession with 4chan, its 4chan that has the weird obsession with CNN.

  66. Twitter is a tag? by conureman · · Score: 1

    Oh the irony.

    --
    The cost of that cleanup, of course, will be borne by taxpayers, not industry.
  67. Well at one point it was nil by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Yup, that's right. No people complained. Then two did. Then two hundred. Then two thousand.

    But still, at one time, it was nil. No complaints.

    It all depends on when you took the measurement.

  68. One problem by Leuf · · Score: 1

    You can bet that IE would handle the insult tag in a completely incompatible way to the rest of the world, thus causing even more misunderstanding and rage.

  69. Angry White Men by mclaincausey · · Score: 1

    We've known about this for a while. Time had a cover story about it when the movie Falling Down came out. Remove the accountability for what one says and you remove the filter, getting pure ejaculations of id. And they are really mad. You know, because they have suffered so much for so long.

    --
    (%i1) factor(777353);
    (%o1) 777353
    1. Re:Angry White Men by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      For some reason, it seems to be the black people exploding with rage :-)

      90% of violence between blacks and white is done by blacks against whites. And you say the whites are the angry and aggressive ones? Sometimes you might wish the gangrapes and the bullets to the heads hurt a few on the other side as well.

      If there's anything to fault, it may be that white people don't act out on it more than they do. White man's rage, black man's violence.

    2. Re:Angry White Men by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Every group of people has a reason to be angry for one thing or another. What I hate is people refusing to acknowledge the faults within them selves and their own cultures. If I am not respected I will not respect, If I am treated poorly I will treat others poorly. Its ok to be angry. Am I angry? yes because I see myself for what I am and what I need to change to be better but very few others seem to be willing to look within and accept the responsibility for who and what they are with out blaming some one else for their faults!

      I dont care whether you are man or woman, black or white, rich or poor. I dont care if some one 5 or 6 generations back did your people wrong. I dont care if your parents suck. I dont care if your a republicrat or democran. I dont care! just quit your bitching and contribute to society or get out of the way so those who give a shit can.

    3. Re:Angry White Men by mclaincausey · · Score: 1

      Dumb comment. Violence and anger are two different things. Violence can be motivated by desperation, greed, insanity, addiction, etc.

      --
      (%i1) factor(777353);
      (%o1) 777353
  70. E-Aggression? by AngryLlama · · Score: 1

    I honestly think most people will be waiting for Apple to release the iAggression. I, for one, would like to see the open source freegression.

  71. Re:G.I.F.T. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    Is there a greater oxymoron in the english language than Windows Genuine Advantage?

    Yes. Microsoft Works.

  72. Well... by Q-Hack! · · Score: 1

    I for one welcome our anonymous e-angry overlords...

    --
    Some days I get the sinking feeling Orwell was an optimist.
  73. like road rage by AdamThor · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I heard about this one with respect to road rage: You're in your car, which you psychologically treat as your personal "territory". You act more dominant when you're on your own turf. So you get a bunch of people together who are acting dominant and the sparks fly. In this case it's your computer, in your house. Not too suprising that people in general might expect more deference than they otherwise would.

    --
    -- "Oh. This guy again."
  74. Anonymous Anger? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Try being around a group of women who just spontaneously hate you for no reason at all when you did nothing to them other than merely exist around them at a job, doing your job to the best of your abilities, only to become their target of daily harrassment/hatred.

  75. I Know Why by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Perhaps, just perhaps, it is all of the pent up anger, rage, and frustration that has welled up inside most people -- caused by living in an over regulated, over legislated, over crowded, insane world, where dirty policitos get rich and the little guy gets screwed. Oh DON"T GET ME STARTED!!!

  76. Seconded by Valdrax · · Score: 1

    It's just shocking the dissonance between the pre-computer way business was done back then (which makes you feel like you're looking at a wholly different time period) and how it seems like absolutely NOTHING has changed since then when you listen to Howard Beale's rants.

    I mean, it's the past and it's today at the same time. It's eerie in a way that no deliberate attempt at creating an anachronism could be. There truly is nothing new under the sun.

    --
    If it's for-profit but free, you're not the customer -- you're the product (e.g., the Slashdot Beta's "audience").
  77. Re:Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory by maxume · · Score: 1

    Hopefully you saw the ironic intent in my first reply (this still leaves you plenty of room to not appreciate it...). The mix of moderation and AC replies suggests that it wasn't particularly clear to something like half of the general readership.

    --
    Nerd rage is the funniest rage.
  78. An armed society ..... by mnemotronic · · Score: 1
    Is anyone else as disturbed as I am about the lack of personal responsibility, accountability, and "hard" consequences? It's very frustrating to work hard to be a "model citizen" (not that I meet 100% of the unwritten requirements of that club) and be stuck in the same sandbox as sociopaths who couldn't give a rat's sass about politeness and responsibility. It also ticks me off when people whip out their faux-compassion and blame society for delinquent or violent behavior -- "the system failed this person". Bull. Some people are derelicts. Some just think they are individually exempt from the ramifications of their behavior. I guess the big question is: what can be done? Lock 'em up? Prisons are already overcrowded. Punish 'em? Make an example of 'em? Why bother. "Civilized society" is too feeble to deliver anything more than a stern admonition or slap on the wrist. Educate 'em? Sheesh. Not only do we get personally or financially screwed by their deviant behavior, now we get to pay more to provide 'em with 3 hots, a cot, and a therapist.

    IMHO, we're seeing this in the results of the recent mortgage collapse, brought on (in part) by lax accountability and a lack of consequences.

    I don't know who said it, but it rings true in my ears right now: An armed society is a polite society.

    --
    The Russians have won. They have made the world a cesspool of distrust, greed, fear and hate.
    1. Re:An armed society ..... by teflonpaladin · · Score: 1

      Robert A. Heinlein, in Beyond This Horizon...

      "An armed society is a polite society. Manners are good when one may have to back up his acts with his life."

    2. Re:An armed society ..... by PenGun · · Score: 1

      It's simple. I respond to danger otherwise I'm kinda laid back and unambitious. You having a weapon puts me in danger. I will continue to try to have that occur minimally.
        I am happy to engage in physical combat but you weak wimpy types always want to bring a gun to a fist fight. Having that be illegal works for me in Canada.

        Heinlien was a transvestite wanna be tough guy. His opinions are largely nonsense except the one about women and cats. I read science fiction as a kid and I've read everything he wrote but the last few. I could not get through them. At his best, as a space opera detail guy in the better earlier times, he was a lot of fun. After Stranger ... less so.

    3. Re:An armed society ..... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And you actually believe that! LMAO

      Only a child thinks Henleins libertarian crap has any relationship with reality.

    4. Re:An armed society ..... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A "civilized society" is one where people are only polite because of the all-pervasive threat of violence?

      You want a thin veneer of politeness covering a life lived in fear of being shot?

      Your compassion and humanity overwhelm me.

  79. The Simple Explanation by DynaSoar · · Score: 1

    People had to sit still and accept any and all forms of communication coming to them via the airwaves and wires for decades. Any anger generated was vented uselessly into the air and/or kept bottled up inside. Suddenly they were given the ability to talk back to the box and have said talk back actually reach a human. The frustration of years gone by will probably continue at least as long as people who survived the suck-it-up decades exist.

    --
    "I may be synthetic, but I'm not stupid." -- Bishop 341-B
    1. Re:The Simple Explanation by phision · · Score: 1

      This reminds of my neighbor, who would now and then go out on his balcony and start telling his thoughts on different political or social questions. He has quite a load voice, so all the neighborhood can hear him (especially as he does this at night). Sometimes people will even engage in argument with him (most of the time yelling at him to shut the fuck up though, but he does not seem to care). Most of the time he is angry about the government and propagandizes revolution.
      Seems like he does not need the internet to release the pressure.

  80. lol by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    lolz!
    fuck you

  81. And the end result is. . . . another Napoleon by Hasai · · Score: 1

    Or, another Stalin, or another Mugabe, or . . . .

    . . . . You *have* read at least a little history, haven't you?

    Nope; probably not. Just another "useful idiot."

    --

    Regards;

    Hasai

    1. Re:And the end result is. . . . another Napoleon by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes, that's what I'm hoping for.

  82. BFF? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    or only on first date? IANAL,IOU.

    OT:I met a guy over on a bus stop once. He was pissed white dude over his divorce. Said the mother in law convinced the daughter to leave him. I don't know how Californians could evar come to such a thought of remedy as what he then said to me: after death, come back toearth as the most beautiful ripped and watermelon-racked blond with a 14" dick so s/he could go back to all the ladies that blue-balled him and whores that charged $100 for their service: to "fuck them till they squeal dry, and if mycock don't fit then make it fit."

    righteous man he was, as he boarded the bus...suitcase in hand, payed the fare, and sat in the honorary seniour citizens seat.

    My point is : Abolish the legislature, remove the federal state overlay, stop suppressing the English common law so everyone can walk around with a readied sidearm to defend themselves from said pederast voter.

    Stop making people dependent on one-another, motherfuckers!

  83. Its on the net because it cant be anywhere else by unity100 · · Score: 1

    our social rules and laws and codes of contact are preventing the existing frustration and angst of modern people with the way we live these days to come out in the open in society.

    instead, it lets itself out in places like internet.

    it is absolutely stupid, a total moron's idea to ever think that by preventing the anger from coming out, you can do away with the issue. regardless of it being on the net, or not.

    the anger is there. its there becauee modern society become too much hassle to live in. people are living distanced from other people emotionally, in all fast paced, work hard and get less lives.

    what would you expect ? roses coming up everywhere ? its just natural.

  84. You forgot one by Quiet_Desperation · · Score: 1

    Various reasons include: anonymity, lack of rules, and lack of immediate consequences.

    You forgot "there's just a lot of damned things to be angry about"

  85. Correlation != Causation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "online anger has resulted in real-life violence"

    Just because someone exhibited anger online before perpetrating a violent act does not mean the online exhibition caused the violent act. Angry people are angry, the fact that it shows up on the internet is inevitable, and in my opinion is more likely to provide a safe place to vent than a place to encourage violent action.

  86. Wordaphobia by Janeshat · · Score: 1

    This author is totally afraid of words and probably doesn't believe in free speech. Not only is his article a bunch of uninformed ramblings, it actually proves my point. Fear of words is in fact the problem, not the words themselves. That girl didn't kill herself because of the words, but because of the fear of them. If she had been taught that words aren't important most of the time she would still be alive today. Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me. I think this Todd guy is just afraid that reporters will be redundant in a few years when 100 percent of the modern world can get online and post their opinion article just like he can. This guy doesn't deserve his job and is attacking the foundation of what allows him to be a reporter in the first place, FREE SPEACH!!!

  87. You can't be yourself anywhere else by thetoadwarrior · · Score: 1

    All day people have to hold things in because saying something that might be a little wrong will land you in a ton of shit.

    The internet is one of the last places (for now) that you can truly express yourself and vent and the fact they have to save it up all for the net means it comes out worse than it would.

    If society would quit stepping on people's freedom of speech then they wouldn't have to become so angry online.

    At least they can't hurt anyone online so who really cares?

  88. ahem by shentino · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    You're banned fucktard!

    Seriously though, I think a good portion of bans in forums and chatrooms and whatnot are due to fits of rage by staff.

    I know from experience.

  89. There are so many fucking people I need to kill by gelfling · · Score: 1

    The list of assholes I need to go power tools on is so fucking long it's exhausting.

  90. web good place for "random acts of kindness too" by peter303 · · Score: 1

    You can really make someone's day if you compliment an idea posted on the web. That might propagate to that person's relationships and help others too.

  91. Re:Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    hey.. wait a minute..
    I post those kinds of comments all the time and never got a 5. He didn't even have the decency to post that anonymously!

  92. Slashdot mods are IDIOTS by Anik315 · · Score: 0, Troll

    The mods are getting really stupid on Slashdot... Bush and Cheney ARE war criminals. They DID launch an oil war which bankrupted the nation. Mod me down all you want, but Republicans ARE going to to lose.

  93. The reason: by photomonkey · · Score: 1

    We don't respect ourselves enough to have our words carried on the 'value' of our names, and we certainly don't respect others enough to tell them plainly and clearly who is speaking against them; either practically or impractically.

    --
    Message contains 1 attachment: spam.gif
  94. :Slashdot mods are still IDIOTS by Anik315 · · Score: 1

    Mod me down all you want, you won't silence me. We're gonna fucking destroy your party tomorrow for generations to come.

  95. Avoiding answering my questions? Why is that?? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "I see you have all the answers." - by postbigbang (761081) on Monday November 03, @04:23PM (#25617537)

    LOL, about answers? I never once claimed that, show me where I did... you can't & you know it. BUT, I do know what everyone/anyone here reading does @ this point:

    I see you have none to my questions... just your horseshit reply I am quoting!

    (Avoiding ANSWERING my questions... & that is what everyone/anyone reading here, quite plainly sees).

    "Hmmmm..." Gee, why is that? Why did you avoid my rather simple questions??

    Gotta go & run it by your "politican spinmasters" or something first???

    (Sorry, we're done with that crap in this nation, finally, I would hope!)

    ----

    See - Everyone AND ANYONE reading, knows why you avoided my questions...

    E.G.-> Even ShieldWolf replied to your latest b.s. ... putting YOU, in YOUR place, once more.

    (One thing you republican freaks are dead afraid of, just like any despotic tyrannical power? Losing your power (ill gotten no less @ the expense of others, or, is Enron like fiascos & this hedge fund naked short selling fiasco not a result thereof??))

    AND, Yes, I hold those in power, responsible: Our "fine republican leaders" in BOTH politics AND business - after all, with great power, comes greater responsibility, right??? Your parties' results SUCK, & as far as I am concerned????

    A lot more ought to happen to you & yours, such as all being sent over to IRAQ to go fight this 'war for your financial freedom', yourselves... every damned registered republican in fact.

    ----

    For instance: I wonder how much you'd like that war, if you're the ones being shot at instead? Of course, another question:

    HOW MANY SENATORS, HOUSE OF REPS (congressional members) & PRESIDENT'S KIDS ARE OVER THERE FIGHTING IT? 1 maybe?? 2??? Just for show too, no less, probably in a desk job instead of the front line.

    ----

    NOW - The only trouble is, you freaks made such a damn mess, it's going to take years to mend.

    Thanks a lot you republican PRICKS. You've got your stolen Enron fiasco, & Hedgefund short selling millions stashed offshore, & your SELFISH kind could care less. That's what I see, & anyone with any sense sees & knows this. Period.

    ----

    HOWEVER, since I am usually an optimist?

    Well, I'll turn around my anger @ that much, & let you know 1 thing:

    You & yours have done us all this HUGE favor... you've ruined yourselves, for decades into the distance. Not that you & yours care, you've stashed your stolen & war profiteer + Enron & hedgefund naked short selling dollars offshore by now.

    Still, for ruining your chances for control, for decades into the future?? Hey - For this, I thank you & yours. Truly.

    ----

    Oh, & by the way/lastly?

    Your down modding me (go ahead, blow those mod points, lol), as well as the "A/C" 10 posts a day limit?? Don't apply here... as you can see, I can flip over to another address in seconds, & be in posting, again, in seconds... no "republican setup b.s." is going to stop me voicing my views here, so, get over that much IF you're even BEGINNING to think that much!

    1. Re:Avoiding answering my questions? Why is that?? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ...no "republican setup b.s." is going to stop me voicing my views here...

      What a pitiful attempt at reverse trolling. Like most authoritarians, you can only imagine the other side to be other authoritarians.

    2. Re:Avoiding answering my questions? Why is that?? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "What a pitiful attempt at reverse trolling. Like most authoritarians, you can only imagine the other side to be other authoritarians." - by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 03, @06:43PM (#25619123)

      And all you have is your double-talk b.s. answer... lol!

      I mean, like - Who are you? The ultimate authority on "internettiquette"?? If so, show me your certification in it, lol, ok??? Good luck, those do NOT exist.

      AND, By the way? I have WELL exceeded the 24 hour 10 post limits & time limitations on posts by an "A/C" here & have for YEARS now, and a child could do it here.

      See - I'm not stupid enough to be a "registered user" here, to be tracked around this place... I note, you do the same, eh?

  96. Ya gotta do old skool hate... by unix+guy · · Score: 1

    Like this is a sudden new discovery??? Does no one remember alt.flame on usenet?

    --
    "Straddling the sword of technology..."
  97. That's right: "Take the 5th", while you still can! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "No one need answer your agenda" - by postbigbang (761081) on Monday November 03, @04:35PM (#25617701)

    That's because you don't have an answer to some simple questions that were asked of you, now do you? Instead you "take the 5th". Pretty obvious. You were asked 2 questions:

    ----

    1.) QUESTION: How many politicians kids are over there fighting the "war for freedom" in IRAQ, vs. folks from the "working class" (slaves)?

    &

    2.) Question: HOW MUCH OF THOSE FOUNDING FATHERS RULES HAVE BEEN OR ARE BEING CIRCUMVENTED BY MR. BUSHBY'S CHANGES VIA HIS EXPANDED EXECUTIVE POWERS LATELY?

    That was asked in response to this statement by you, no less:

    "As someone related to founding 'fathers', I'll tell you that they shook the British Monarchy out of a sense of fairness, not violence. They wrote a set of documents that gave the citizenry a method to hold each other in checks and balances, rather than armed borders at each state line" - by postbigbang (761081) on Monday November 03, @02:25PM (#25615877)

    Buddy? Hate to tell you this?? It took some violence... ever heard of the "American Revolution"???

    ----

    By the way - Nobody ever said "violence is the way", far from it - you sure tried to 'twist' it to that. However, fight fire with fire, & and eye for an eye, were... especially when those in control apparently don't understand ANYTHING else. Use the vote? Yea, ok, sure - that surely worked the last 2 elections now, didn't it?? NOT! The popular vote should be what counts, not this electoral college CRAP!

    (Of course, that makes it easy to find & manipulate, via various means, the representatives of the electoral college... or, plant "yours" into their positions, if not rig a vote (Florida & Ohio ring any bells here, people? They should, they rung YOURS, hard, the past 8 yrs. now!)

    ----

    Am I angry over this telling people essentially "lay down, take it bitch, know your role" crap that apathetic views entail? Damned right I am... &, there is a term for it:

    It's called "righteous indignation"...

    However, the republican "KORPORATE AMERIKA"? It's coming to an end, soon. Thank the merciful Lord, but, the mess is so huge it will take a decade or more to clean up... if it CAN be cleaned up that is. See? I don't have all the answers. I just hope Mr. Obama & his, do.

    ----

    However, everyone sees the republican party use it (changing rules to suit their greedy needs, per Mr. Bush's latest changes & the 2nd question noted above) to many things laws wise for surveilling our own people no less... my God.

    Apathy caused this pal, wake up. Once our nation started essentially collapsing economically? Why the hell wasn't Cheney & Bush ousted?? Apathy folks.

    Results of that?

    Well - It's costing YOU the taxpayer, & also your jobs via outsourcing being allowed w/ out penalization (though another republican in Reagan sure stomped on the air traffic controllers union didn't he?), your future lives (good luck with social security, various pension funds + 401k plans that are on shaky ground now, bigtime, etc. with this latest hedge fund & banking shenanigans going on as well as Enron like b.s.)... & worst of all, fear.

    Fear for your lives & those you support, out of fear for retribution by "the infamous they" in control (republicans for 8 yrs. now).

    So, please: Give us a break. This nation wasn't founded by apathetic weaklings - it was made for us, by strong willed men who had QUITE enough of pretty much the same crap we're seeing now.

    Have YOU all had enough? I hope so... vote DEMOCRAT, across the boards (you judge the republican controlled results the past 8 yrs. & decide).

  98. In other news... by taucross · · Score: 1

    Anything is rampant on the internet, if you look for it.

    --
    "In the absence of the ability to establish the attribute of truth they tried to establish the noble attributes."
  99. CNN discovers Internet... by Spatial · · Score: 1

    ...is populated by humans. Welcome to reality, CNN.

  100. Re:Prediction by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Oh and you might like to know that I am fucking your mom while I type this.

    My mother is dead, you insensitive necrophiliac!

  101. Mod parent funny/underrated by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Ubuntu taking over? (Score:0, Offtopic)

    That's a big whoosh for some moderator. I thought it was funny.

  102. Re:That's right: "Take the 5th", while you still c by postbigbang · · Score: 1

    Stop putting your fingers in your ears. I've already voted, as I did since I voted for George McGovern, Democratic straight ticket.

    Discussion, however, is pointless right now.

    --
    ---- Teach Peace. It's Cheaper Than War.
  103. Re:That's right: "Take the 5th", while you still c by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Good, @ least you're a democrat... I'll give you that, now that I am aware of it.

    I just wondered WHY you avoided my questions in regards to violence is all.

    See, sometimes? Because we're human beings??

    Violence IS necessary.

    Though you feel otherwise, for whatever reasons.

    Yes - It's wrong, I will agree, but we are still animals in many a way, & it's a part of us as human beings. What do human beings tend to respond to, best? Fear, & pain. I wish it was love & respect, but nothing in this life's showing me otherwise.

    (& I hate violence myself, as I've lived around it most of my life, unfortunately + been victim to it more than a few times).

    Still, by this point? Well, I think we're on the "same wavelength" for the most part @ this point (except that you think violence can be UTTERLY/COMPLETELY dispensed with - & imo @ least? This is NOT true, unfortunately - because idiots often mistake mercy, for weakness, is imo, why).

    Again: I'm NOT with "unjustified violence" such as this war in IRAQ, nor that in Vietnam in the past & I would not have been.

    However, like the American Revolution, as 1 example (since you brought up our founding fathers)? Violence & war was needed & necessary, to throw off the yoke of oppressors.

    Unfortunately, "Roman Empire Part Deux", complete with a corrupt SENATE (in our case, congress (house of reps + senate, etc. et al)) is in place under the republicans & even Mr. McCain admitted this much on T.V. 2-3 nights ago.

  104. Re:web good place for "random acts of kindness too by shermo · · Score: 1

    That's a really good idea. Thanks!

    --
    Insanity: voting in the same two parties over and over again and expecting different results
  105. Re:That's right: "Take the 5th", while you still c by postbigbang · · Score: 2, Interesting

    You see, there are those of us that believe that unless directly challenged, violence is unnecessary. Part of this is the fact that we have a problem as a species with violence that dates back to a time when it was all we had to defend ourselves and engender discipline. Civility requires we examine alternates, or we all succumb to murderous and violent tendencies.

    Diplomacy in various forms can work. Appeasement isn't necessarily good diplomacy. That's what Chamberlin did before WWII, where others of my ancestry fought. Some are buried in Europe. So it goes. Then, there was a direct threat.

    We ignore African violence because the caucasians in power in the US aren't of African origin, and so they don't believe they have a 'dog in that fight'. In Darfur, so many have been displaced, killed, raped, maimed, and otherwise have been victims of violence as we turned away.

    We went to the Balkans, where they fight wars of their ancestors dating to 400CE. We kept ethnic Albanians from certain death, after many were slaughtered wholesale.

    But we supported the deaths of millions of supposed communists in Indonesia by Suharto and broad parts of SE Asia during the 1950s. These are all facts. Look them up. None of it had to happen. None of it. Fear brings about violence.

    Part of the success of the United States has been internal liberty. I defend that liberty constantly. That the US government has been the perpetrator of violence across the world doesn't seem to be easily remembered by the populace. So many wars, so little time. Most of the wars not easily remembered were at the behest of protecting almighty US business interests. Never mind that innocents were slaughtered. It was the businesses that mattered and so we floated Marines into Central America, Asia, Africa, and to a much lesser extent, the Middle East.

    There are some cultures that believe that violence is perfectly acceptable in terms of a societal disciplining method. Humans are treated like animals. It's amazing the don't eat people, as the regard for their lives is small. It's been that way, and the advance of civilization requires dignifying life, and reducing violence that's otherwise incumbent.

    --
    ---- Teach Peace. It's Cheaper Than War.
  106. "I Accept" by refactored · · Score: 3, Funny

    Perhaps all this a nonny mouse anger arises from the mile long EULAs that we are supposed to read (but don't) ((because we'd start rioting if we were forced to)).

    At the end of these sublimely irritating EULA's is an "I Accept" button.

    However, nobody, but nobody, clicks on an "I Accept" button thinking "I truly accept, understand and welcome these words of wisdom which in exchange for a paltry sum of money, have made my life much better".

    Universally, on clicking on "I Accept" around the 'net the one silent, but LOUD thought occurs, which is, as the parent so aptly expressed, "FUCK YOU!"

  107. Gagh! That word! by ScrewMaster · · Score: 1

    Anonymous Anger Rampant On the Web

    Can we please find a good synonym for rampant? The RIAA has milked that word of its last milligram of impact.

    --
    The higher the technology, the sharper that two-edged sword.
  108. God Damnit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Ahhh, FUCK articles like this one. REAL LIFE VIOLENCE IS CAUSED BY SHIT IRL NOT THE INTERNET. RAAAAAGE! god damn. I'm going to go shoot somebody now. brb.

  109. Buses and trains make people angry by patiodragon · · Score: 1

    "OT:I met a guy over on a bus stop once. He was pissed white dude over his divorce."

    I met a guy at a train station once. He seemed upset that I didn't know Jesus well enough. While he was preaching to me, he kept ripping farts, so I couldn't stop cracking up on the inside long enough to ease his anger.

    Buses and trains make people angry, so that is why they refer to it as the information super-highway. QED

  110. Re:Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory by Patchw0rk+F0g · · Score: 1

    Live with it, pal. Happened to me yesterday (modded redundant), but my knickers ain't in a knot.

    Actually, that's contrary to the spirit of this discussion. Sorry, lost focus...

    Fuck you too, you dip-shit AC, and go post on your slap-ass pr0n boards!

    --
    When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro. ~~ Hunter S. Thompson
  111. anonymous real-life violence by slater86 · · Score: 1

    If they have their online anonymity then how do they know it was linked to real-life violence....or is that just speculation?

    --
    When people ask if I'm an optimist, I say "I hope so". --Bill Bailey
  112. Re:Like misbehaved children, it's about the parent by Dripdry · · Score: 1

    I feel the need to disagree.

    When it comes to rules demanding people remain absolutely calm and cool, I find that people in a power position tend to find ways of justifying their own opinions and ways of treating people, and when others truly take offense at something they should be offended at the peron(s) in power simply lock them out by justifying that their own moral superiority because they remained calm.

    Being nice can be one thing, but to extirpate human emotion seems like a dangerous thing (can you say corporate america?) abused by those who wish to remain in power. That's been my real-world experience, less so on the internet. Just an opinion with the usual holes in it.

    --
    -
  113. E-Anger by Dan541 · · Score: 1

    What the Fuck is E-Anger?!!!!!!

    Its crap like this that makes me want to shoot people.

    --
    An SQL query goes to a bar, walks up to a table and asks, "Mind if I join you?"
  114. http://s11.gladiatus.com/game/c.php?uid=93134 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
  115. Re:That's right: "Take the 5th", while you still c by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "You see, there are those of us that believe that unless directly challenged, violence is unnecessary. " - by postbigbang (761081) on Monday November 03, @07:29PM (#25619661)

    Right... so, please explain that to the folks that kicked the war in with IRAQ then. I do NOT recall them ever directly challenging us. IIRC? On 9/11?? It was Osama Bin Laden & crew, correct???

    So, why on earth did we "punch S. Hussein into a grave" then??? He never hit us!

    (... & Bin Laden (oil ties w/ the bush family no less, & I strongly actually suspect is an operative for a certain US organization in fact to be truthful, since he "is still not found" (sick the mob on him? He'd get found I think, for example))).

    No. Something's up with that.

    ----

    "Diplomacy in various forms can work " - by postbigbang (761081) on Monday November 03, @07:29PM (#25619661)

    Never said it didn't, but, hitting someone who did NOTHING to you? Makes NO sense to me... case in point, again refer to the above from myself.

    NO WMD's WERE EVER FOUND EITHER, MIND YOU... blame it on the CIA? WTF?? They only provided information that should have been quadruple checked on first, such as evidence of WMD's, & this is the part that our "fine republican leadership" is definitely guilty of. You don't send our folks over there to die, & many have, for 1/2 ass information possibly!

    That's just irresponsible!

    ----

    "Appeasement isn't necessarily good diplomacy. That's what Chamberlin did before WWII, where others of my ancestry fought. Some are buried in Europe. So it goes. Then, there was a direct threat. " - by postbigbang (761081) on Monday November 03, @07:29PM (#25619661)

    Where was this direct threat from IRAQ? Where are those WMD's?? Did they pilot the 9/11 bombjets?? No. Please...

    ----

    "We ignore African violence because the caucasians in power in the US aren't of African origin, and so they don't believe they have a 'dog in that fight'. In Darfur, so many have been displaced, killed, raped, maimed, and otherwise have been victims of violence as we turned away. We went to the Balkans, where they fight wars of their ancestors dating to 400CE. We kept ethnic Albanians from certain death, after many were slaughtered wholesale."

    Do they have oil to steal, or try to?? I know IRAQ does... who's involved in oil that we know here?? Oh yea, Mr. Bush! Funny that eh??? Coincidences abound there (guess what, Mr. Bin Laden too, since 1946 he & his deal w/ the Bush family in this area too, will wonders never end & coincidences abound yet again)...

    Follow the money.

    ----

    The rest of what you said doesn't apply, as far as I am concerned, no more quotes required.

    All I need are questions above answered... & that is what I quote from you that does, & directly is affecting myself & others in the USA currently, under the Bush regime:

    Above all else?

    Even applying this to dealing with people in our personal lives, let alone a war?

    Hey - Why the heck hit someone who you blamed for something which you have NO proof of, when you KNOW another someone that DID do you wrong & he's still floating around (I bet if 12 trillion dollars a year spent on finding Bin Laden was done, he'd be found...)

    So, instead of blowing 12 trillion a day (or whatever the astronomically ludicrous figure is, it depresses me, because it would be far better spent on federally funded jobs for Pete's sake, like road reclamations even for example, than on a dumbass war, that is impoverishing or helping to, alongside Enron fiascos & uncontrolled practices in the stock market like Hedge Funds naked short selling, which imo is right up there with Milken's junk bond practices actually - top that off with outsourcing of our jobs?? No, no more)?

    We fund a dumb war, of, which it is - occupations always

  116. Anonymity is not the same as a forum or blog id by tinkerton · · Score: 1

    The term anonymity could use a few qualifiers. Note that on slashdot you can post with your forum id or as an AC. They're both anonymous but they're very different. In a (modest) way your forum id is like a real, parallel identity and you don't like it if it gets a bad reputation - more so if the forum acts like a small community. If you ruin your id you have to start over as a new forum person, and build up credibility again. And you have a secret now too. This is not comfortable.

    As an AC the social control is less, which gives you the chance to either give free rein to your nasty tendencies or voice honest thoughts that for legitimate reasons you're reluctant to be open about(a coward with something to be coward about). Or both.

  117. Re:That's right: "Take the 5th", while you still c by postbigbang · · Score: 1

    I understand your venom; I feel it, too. If you haven't already voted, do it. We need to heal in the US to have respect for one another again. We were lied to, consistently. Now it's time for our own regime change, done via the process we adhere to because we believe it's to be hallowed, and venerated for its capacity to make use civil.

    --
    ---- Teach Peace. It's Cheaper Than War.
  118. Re:Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory by tepples · · Score: 1

    Hopefully you saw the ironic intent in my first reply

    I did. But now that this is over, how in general should I try to stop myself from posting the same thing that someone else posts between when I click Preview and when I clicked Post?

  119. We're on the same page after all, nice talk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Funny you should state that, I am having coffee now & am on my way out the door to do so, shortly. Nice talking to you, all in all, despite the "minor confusions" & such, I am fairly sure you & I (& others here in this discussion we had) are on the same wavelength/page. Know what member here you might like reading or speaking to? Jeremiah Cornelius: Guy's pretty cool, & has some interesting insights (I don't espouse them all, but, they're interesting & imo?? Many times QUITE accurate - just a tip, because there are some sharp people @ this website forums... not just in computing (my forte), but in other areas of life as well).

  120. Fine! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    WTF? Do we need to put an E (or I) in front of every-bloody-thing that might occur online? I mean really? There is no difference between 'aggression' and 'e-aggression' except for where it happens. I mean, if I get pissed off about something in the loo, is that 'P-aggression'? Or if I'm pissed at a strip club is that 'DD-aggression'?
    I mean, can't you n00bs stop that crap?

    We are sorr-E. Feel better?

  121. Re:Like misbehaved children, it's about the parent by Legion_SB · · Score: 1

    I find that people in a power position tend to find ways of justifying their own opinions and ways of treating people, and when others truly take offense at something they should be offended at the peron(s) in power simply lock them out by justifying that their own moral superiority because they remained calm.

    Being offended, even on justified grounds, is never an excuse for bad behavior.

    Losing one's cool online is simply never, ever, ever productive, and often turns a manageable problem into an out-of-control one.

    There is plenty of room between being completely "corporate America" emotionless, and being able to control one's emotions. Most of us exist in this middle ground in our everyday "offline" life.

    --
    'a';DROP TABLE users; SELECT * FROM DATA WHERE name LIKE '%'... if you're reading this, it didn't work.