I agree that the article and summary were some of the dumbest ideas I have yet heard with regard to "gun control", probably not for a lot of the reasons others have mentioned but because everything they described the computer doing is what a responsible, well trained gun owner is supposed to do! Seriously!?!? The best way to control those things is by training the operator or not letting them have the gun to begin with. Hell! We as sysadmins take less offensive and destructive things away from stupid people ALL THE TIME! Should we take guns from or keep them out of the hands of untrained (and/or unstable) people? Logically, the answer would be YES!!!
Put that degree to work for you! You obviously have an interest in the physics of what's going on, now apply that to the technology you seem to have a passion for and see if you can contribute in the hands on stuff rather than the managerial stuff. Get your chops back in the trenches and work back into a Product Manager position if you desire, but I don't think there's a lack of networking companies that could use good Ph.D.s. Heck, there may be good post-doc positions in this area you might love that could lead to other work on the side or another career. You must still have contacts at the university you matriculated through, and having been a Ph.D. student you must be familiar with The Chronicle for Higher Education and the numerous job openings it contains. Post-docs with experience are usually more welcome, too. Don't keep fishing in the same pond if you're not getting any bites.
I would have to concur that games have nothing to do with my OS platform of choice. I am not using Linux for one simple reason: the tools I need to make money aren't there or aren't as mature. And, someone already mentioned drivers. I use Windows for the tools I can only get there and Mac OS X for most of my daily work. Everything works as advertised and I rarely have to go under the hood to get something done. Why would I spend more time doing sysadmin tasks when I have an OS that supports everything I need to do without the added overhead of constantly having to compromise on features I need and battle henky drivers? Hey, for some people that's not an issue and they can use Linux as their primary OS. Me, I use it for servers and that's about it. It's not that I don't like Linux, or the Open Source philosophy. I simply lose too much proficiency to make it a viable option. And before the flaming begins, yes, I have tried the tool alternatives that are available on Linux and they just don't cut it. There's always something just not right enough to be a deal breaker. Until the market changes and the big software tools get ported, my OS landscape just ain't gonna change. I would imagine this is true for most users.
I've said this every time the subject comes up. You wanna secede, go ahead. You lose currency, military, and everything else that comes with being part of the United States. Oh, you thought you'd get to use the dollar? Uh, no, that's a United States Federal Reserve Note. Fuck off! And, no way would I give them Texas. You want some states you get Mississippi and Alabama because your policies already fucked those states up so bad we don't want them anyway. We'll just build a nice four meter high fence around them for you and install the appropriate border crossings after we cut off any and all infrastructure running in and out of those states. Idiots think they can have their cake and eat it to. Ha! My ass!!!
Mitt's problem is that he actually believed his own BS.
Which BS? The BS before or after he shook the Etch-A-Sketch®, and was that before or after he changed his mind on every topic again? Just want to know which BS he supposedly bought. It was so hard to keep up with which BS he was peddling on what day....
I'm always amazed at how *intolerant* leftists can be. I live in a rural "redneck" community and we have very little crime, pollution, racism and unemployment here. Our schools are ranked some of the highest in the nation and just about everyone I know graduated college. Maybe we're not as dumb as the stereotype you submit to says we are.
lmao...we're supposed to take all that at face value with no links to statistics for where you live, let alone the actual location. I call shenanigans. Where is this place, Republican Fantasyland?
bullshit, most Nazi technology e.g. aircraft was superior.
now that subset known as "information technology" might be another matter....
Beg to differ on that front. Nazi aircraft engines were superior for a time, but the P-51 Mustang pretty much wiped out Nazi air superiority in early 1944. Once the problem was defined the Allied solution was more than effective. Same with tanks: hello bazooka! U-boats were probably the Nazi's best technology, but that was more due to the experience level and tactics of their commanders being superior than the tech itself. Germany had an early lead in tech because of complacency by other nations. It was Allied know-how (i.e., tech; a lot developed by German defectors) and perseverance that ultimately won that war.
I hate to do this but I do have more than a little experience with choosing writing implements. I graduated from an Architecture school where we were required to carry a pen at all times (theory being you can find something to write on more often than to write with). Needless to say my classmates and I have tried just about every commercially available writing implement from crappy Bic pens to Mont Blanc fountain pens. So what won? Nothing. It's all personal choice. You just have to keep trying different pens until you find the one that works for you the way you want. For me, I like the Pilot Precise line, Extra Fine. Why? The ink is thin and won't blob unless fuzz gets on the nib. It writes very nice clean lines until it is almost out of ink. It doesn't hesitate like Bic pens. The only drawback is that the ink will take a few seconds to dry on really smooth or glossy surfaces (velum or photo paper). Plus, the buggers are cheap! At roughly $2.00USD each it's not that big a deal when you lose one. Losing a Mont Blanc or a Koh-i-noor pen is bad, bad, bad, bad, bad. Bottom line, taking someone else's advice on buying something that personal isn't going to help. You gotta slog through the morass and find your winner.
Here, here! and lightweight batteries/storage devices or some sort of beamed power rather than trying to directly solar power a plane. Great for adventurers, bad for regular humans.
What Stands In the Way of a Truly Solar-Powered Airliner?
Gravity?!:p
...and wind resistance (friction). The inertia of the body at rest caused by gravity (thrust), and the friction caused wind resistance (dynamics and controls).
I will agree with a vast majority of people that say it's more than just CS majors. I have studied and worked in academia for more than 20 years. Not all geeks are tech nerds, too. There are plenty of history, architecture, and English literature geeks out there that would give any CS geek a run for their money! Being a pompous ass is not unique to any major nor is it missing from the corporate world. The one thing I can say is that the more varied your social web is--economically as well as culturally--the more well rounded a person you will be. I would add to that the more time you take to listen before you speak no matter what crowd you're in will help you hear and understand other viewpoints before stating your opinion. You seem interested in human development as well as developing technical skills, so use some electives to learn more about people by taking some psychology, philosophy or other humanities classes. Basically, vary your experience and you won't think your master of the universe because you're really good at one (or a few) things. You may find that everyone is good at something and that's what makes the world go round.
Just run the phone number equivalent of a blacklist directory. Exempt such directories from any legal liability, and just make it compulsory for telcos to provide (as an opt-in service) call filtering based on the blacklisting.
The carriers always know the calling number even if the caller id is blocked, so it should work if done at the exchange.
Alternatively, someone could throw together a little telephony device (or app in the case of smartphones) that sits in between the phone and the wall socket and queries public blacklists based on caller ID, and screens out anonymous calls.
Not that hard surely?
I had one of those in the 1990s, it was called a Yoyo (couldn't find a link) and attached to the Geoport modem port on my PowerMac 9500. Worked great! Blacklisted everyone but those in my address book and sent them straight to voicemail. Even had different rings set up for different people, the whole nine yards. Haven't found anything comparable since.
You know, the phone system is computerized now. They know who called who when. They claim they don't if you call and complain about a harassing call because they don't want to deal with you.
Have some feds buy some land lines and cell phones. Give them a few credit cards. Then when the robocall comes in, answer it and buy whatever they are selling.
Track the transaction, figure out who is responsible, and then arrest them.
You can't do that! That's "real" enforcement. The kind of stuff you see dramatized on TV. OMG, Criminal Intent is on, ttfn.
This is how we lose our freedoms. An annoyance leads to bans and requirements that impact much more important matters.
rtfa-troll points out below that anonymous calls are vital for tipsters and whistleblowers. Are you willing to sacrifice that very important check for the sake of not getting a robocall?
More importantly, there are bans and requirements in place *now* that should prevent these robocalls from happening. Where did you get the idea that criminals follow the law?
I have some bad news. The PATRIOT Act already took those freedoms away. Law enforcement doesn't get "Blocked" in the caller ID and your "anonymous tips" aren't truly anonymous. DHS knows what phone it came from, what carrier it went through, etc., etc., etc.
The problem is that most of the real difficult companies are hiding their numbers and identities
BAN anonymous calls or otherwise hiding their numbers and identities. I can't think of a single legitimate reason why a call should be anonymous.
REQUIRE carriers to supply valid CID information or otherwise allow calls to be identified.
REQUIRE carriers to have valid information that matches a phone number with a company.
Agreed. My response to the whole OP is, how about some enforcement and cooperation like we're seeing for anti-terrorism? Can't tell me the technology doesn't already exist and is in place to do "other things" like spy on everyone's calls. Probably take a few DHS folks a matter of days to identify ALL the robocall perpetrators in America, for crying out loud.
Actually, 99% of people in real life are stupid as well. Maybe I am just intolerant of idiots and being surround by them.
Not you, of course.
Thanks
A very aggressive assertion. I will agree that people do seem to have become detached from reality more and more, and that common sense seems to have all but disappeared, but people aren't rude because they're stupid and being rude to stupid people does no good. People have always been more aggressive when detached from reality or sneaking around seemingly unknown. The Stanford and Milgram studies referenced in posts above clearly show the psychological effects of detachment from reality. They show that when perceptively relieved of negative consequence anyone will act immorally, i.e. they think they are above the law. With online behavior I would postulate that it's not only contextual or situational but also deals with the social and mental development of the individual. There are a lot of juveniles and those with stunted social development that spend a lot of time online and therefore account for a good portion of the rude comments we see, as well as the flame wars that go on. Don't get me wrong, contextually we can all get drawn into these behaviors at any time but some are better at realizing the behavior is pointless or not acceptable and move on. An illustration of what I am talking about was the Leo Traynor story that appeared here the other day. A 17-year old thought he was playing a game. He was detached from the reality of what he was doing and too juvenile to realize that his actions had severe consequences. He perceived no real danger to himself because of the inherent anonymity of the Internet so he felt he could be far more aggressive and cruel than if he were doing these things in the open. But, deviant behavior like this has always existed. It's just more prevalent on the Internet because the community is bigger.
Thirded! People from countries where most of the roads are 35mph/55kmh or below have lax helmet laws and more cyclists. People in the U.S. have more roads 35mph/55kmh and above, much less stringent driving instruction, lower age for allowing the licensure of drivers, more licensed drivers under the age of 20 than most developed nations, more cities designed around the motor vehicle than the pedestrian, and I could keep going and going. Not the point, really, although good statistics as to why it would be important to have a helmet law. No, the real reason is risk of severe, permanent bodily harm. Especially in a country with socialized medicine where EVERYONE pays for stupid to live out the rest of his days are helmet laws (and any safety laws, really) a good idea. I do believe in personal choice, but not wearing a helmet is more than a little selfish (as well as stupid) if you really stop and think of the consequences of just ONE screw up...and it most likely won't even be your screw up. So, IMHO, wear a helmet, for us all. Or, buy an island somewhere, build your own road and ride with reckless abandon!
"I was deliberately more provocative toward them than ever I'd been before."
This sentence makes me think that, however vile the "troll" could have turned out to be, this wasn't an entirely black-versus-white situation. I suspect this guy was being a jerk back at anyone who was a jerk to him, and it escalated further than he thought it would.
Have you ever had a troll come after you? It all starts off as harmless verbal sparring and ALWAYS escalates. Trolls are like dogs with frisbees and just won't let go, especially when they are minors with no responsibilities, plenty of time on their hands and sociopathic tendencies. What you learn is to cut them off, like Leo tried to do, but some don't go away. Try having your own discussion board some time and be required to deal with trolls. I think your perspective on being a jerk would change dramatically. Plus, he was trying to bait the troll at that point to find him, duh! Just like the cops SHOULD have done way before he had to.
Sort of surprising because I'm fairly certain the language of that threat rises to a criminal level with the threat of bodily harm and kidnapping, especially given that the person making the threat knows the address of the person they are threatening.
Not at all. Firstly, this all happened in the UK, so unless you live there you have no idea how their legal system deals with cases like this. I know that in the U.S. it is dealt with differently state-by-state as there are different laws in different states dealing with cases like this but, one thing holds fairly true throughout. Unless they actually do something, threats mean nothing and the police file your complaint until something happens. Once something happens those threats get used as evidence, but most threats and such go uninvestigated because police just don't have the time. Sorry, there are no super cops that investigate every report that comes in. That's TV myth and misguided presumption in most cases. Unless the guy is caught on the premises or in the act of threatening you, the police aren't gonna care. Have a nice day...
Before or after he found him?
A sane person would of given the cops the information and let this be a legal issue. I would of done the same. Basically this kid crossed the line from harmless internet troll, to potential killer when he moved the trolling to the real world. that has consequences and it they ruin his life well it's his fault.
But, like many other knee-jerk reactions to headlines, you failed to read the article to find that the kid was a family friend's kid and that throwing him in the slammer would be the worst thing for a sociopath. So you're saying you'd lock up your friend's kid rather than confront the family and deal with the issue with empathy and regard for the well being of others? Nice sociopathic behavior on your part, btw. The kid needs help, not punishment! He's 17! Still a minor in most developed countries' legal systems. Throwing him in jail would have only made his behavior worse, and might have led to actual physical harm to those involved when he got out. Sociopaths LOVE revenge!
But it wasn't a random person this kid targeted. If you read TFA then you would have seen the part where the kid is the 17-year old son of a friend. The kid was someone Leo knew as a boy as his description of the cookie offer at the meet clearly states. The kid is just messed up and thought he could mess with people with no consequence. Counseling is the best option for that, not dumping him into the UK legal system and making him more antisocial. But, this kid knew his target for a long time. This was NOT a random person attacking another.
Slashdot Mirror
I agree that the article and summary were some of the dumbest ideas I have yet heard with regard to "gun control", probably not for a lot of the reasons others have mentioned but because everything they described the computer doing is what a responsible, well trained gun owner is supposed to do! Seriously!?!? The best way to control those things is by training the operator or not letting them have the gun to begin with. Hell! We as sysadmins take less offensive and destructive things away from stupid people ALL THE TIME! Should we take guns from or keep them out of the hands of untrained (and/or unstable) people? Logically, the answer would be YES!!!
Does All Science Really Move In 'Paradigm Shifts'?
Answer: No. It Moves Where The Money Is!
Put that degree to work for you! You obviously have an interest in the physics of what's going on, now apply that to the technology you seem to have a passion for and see if you can contribute in the hands on stuff rather than the managerial stuff. Get your chops back in the trenches and work back into a Product Manager position if you desire, but I don't think there's a lack of networking companies that could use good Ph.D.s. Heck, there may be good post-doc positions in this area you might love that could lead to other work on the side or another career. You must still have contacts at the university you matriculated through, and having been a Ph.D. student you must be familiar with The Chronicle for Higher Education and the numerous job openings it contains. Post-docs with experience are usually more welcome, too. Don't keep fishing in the same pond if you're not getting any bites.
I would have to concur that games have nothing to do with my OS platform of choice. I am not using Linux for one simple reason: the tools I need to make money aren't there or aren't as mature. And, someone already mentioned drivers. I use Windows for the tools I can only get there and Mac OS X for most of my daily work. Everything works as advertised and I rarely have to go under the hood to get something done. Why would I spend more time doing sysadmin tasks when I have an OS that supports everything I need to do without the added overhead of constantly having to compromise on features I need and battle henky drivers? Hey, for some people that's not an issue and they can use Linux as their primary OS. Me, I use it for servers and that's about it. It's not that I don't like Linux, or the Open Source philosophy. I simply lose too much proficiency to make it a viable option. And before the flaming begins, yes, I have tried the tool alternatives that are available on Linux and they just don't cut it. There's always something just not right enough to be a deal breaker. Until the market changes and the big software tools get ported, my OS landscape just ain't gonna change. I would imagine this is true for most users.
I've said this every time the subject comes up. You wanna secede, go ahead. You lose currency, military, and everything else that comes with being part of the United States. Oh, you thought you'd get to use the dollar? Uh, no, that's a United States Federal Reserve Note. Fuck off! And, no way would I give them Texas. You want some states you get Mississippi and Alabama because your policies already fucked those states up so bad we don't want them anyway. We'll just build a nice four meter high fence around them for you and install the appropriate border crossings after we cut off any and all infrastructure running in and out of those states. Idiots think they can have their cake and eat it to. Ha! My ass!!!
Mitt's problem is that he actually believed his own BS.
Which BS? The BS before or after he shook the Etch-A-Sketch®, and was that before or after he changed his mind on every topic again? Just want to know which BS he supposedly bought. It was so hard to keep up with which BS he was peddling on what day....
I'm always amazed at how *intolerant* leftists can be. I live in a rural "redneck" community and we have very little crime, pollution, racism and unemployment here. Our schools are ranked some of the highest in the nation and just about everyone I know graduated college. Maybe we're not as dumb as the stereotype you submit to says we are.
lmao...we're supposed to take all that at face value with no links to statistics for where you live, let alone the actual location. I call shenanigans. Where is this place, Republican Fantasyland?
bullshit, most Nazi technology e.g. aircraft was superior.
now that subset known as "information technology" might be another matter....
Beg to differ on that front. Nazi aircraft engines were superior for a time, but the P-51 Mustang pretty much wiped out Nazi air superiority in early 1944. Once the problem was defined the Allied solution was more than effective. Same with tanks: hello bazooka! U-boats were probably the Nazi's best technology, but that was more due to the experience level and tactics of their commanders being superior than the tech itself. Germany had an early lead in tech because of complacency by other nations. It was Allied know-how (i.e., tech; a lot developed by German defectors) and perseverance that ultimately won that war.
I hate to do this but I do have more than a little experience with choosing writing implements. I graduated from an Architecture school where we were required to carry a pen at all times (theory being you can find something to write on more often than to write with). Needless to say my classmates and I have tried just about every commercially available writing implement from crappy Bic pens to Mont Blanc fountain pens. So what won? Nothing. It's all personal choice. You just have to keep trying different pens until you find the one that works for you the way you want. For me, I like the Pilot Precise line, Extra Fine. Why? The ink is thin and won't blob unless fuzz gets on the nib. It writes very nice clean lines until it is almost out of ink. It doesn't hesitate like Bic pens. The only drawback is that the ink will take a few seconds to dry on really smooth or glossy surfaces (velum or photo paper). Plus, the buggers are cheap! At roughly $2.00USD each it's not that big a deal when you lose one. Losing a Mont Blanc or a Koh-i-noor pen is bad, bad, bad, bad, bad. Bottom line, taking someone else's advice on buying something that personal isn't going to help. You gotta slog through the morass and find your winner.
- A 747 consumes 140MW. [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orders_of_magnitude_(power) ] - Nevada Solar One, a 400 acre solar generating station, generates 64MW. [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nevada_Solar_One ] Hmmmm...
Those are some damn big wings, eh?
Here, here! and lightweight batteries/storage devices or some sort of beamed power rather than trying to directly solar power a plane. Great for adventurers, bad for regular humans.
What Stands In the Way of a Truly Solar-Powered Airliner?
Gravity?! :p
...and wind resistance (friction). The inertia of the body at rest caused by gravity (thrust), and the friction caused wind resistance (dynamics and controls).
Build a giant RAM NAS!!! hehe
I will agree with a vast majority of people that say it's more than just CS majors. I have studied and worked in academia for more than 20 years. Not all geeks are tech nerds, too. There are plenty of history, architecture, and English literature geeks out there that would give any CS geek a run for their money! Being a pompous ass is not unique to any major nor is it missing from the corporate world. The one thing I can say is that the more varied your social web is--economically as well as culturally--the more well rounded a person you will be. I would add to that the more time you take to listen before you speak no matter what crowd you're in will help you hear and understand other viewpoints before stating your opinion. You seem interested in human development as well as developing technical skills, so use some electives to learn more about people by taking some psychology, philosophy or other humanities classes. Basically, vary your experience and you won't think your master of the universe because you're really good at one (or a few) things. You may find that everyone is good at something and that's what makes the world go round.
Just run the phone number equivalent of a blacklist directory. Exempt such directories from any legal liability, and just make it compulsory for telcos to provide (as an opt-in service) call filtering based on the blacklisting. The carriers always know the calling number even if the caller id is blocked, so it should work if done at the exchange. Alternatively, someone could throw together a little telephony device (or app in the case of smartphones) that sits in between the phone and the wall socket and queries public blacklists based on caller ID, and screens out anonymous calls. Not that hard surely?
I had one of those in the 1990s, it was called a Yoyo (couldn't find a link) and attached to the Geoport modem port on my PowerMac 9500. Worked great! Blacklisted everyone but those in my address book and sent them straight to voicemail. Even had different rings set up for different people, the whole nine yards. Haven't found anything comparable since.
You know, the phone system is computerized now. They know who called who when. They claim they don't if you call and complain about a harassing call because they don't want to deal with you.
...or the paperwork.
Have some feds buy some land lines and cell phones. Give them a few credit cards. Then when the robocall comes in, answer it and buy whatever they are selling.
Track the transaction, figure out who is responsible, and then arrest them.
You can't do that! That's "real" enforcement. The kind of stuff you see dramatized on TV. OMG, Criminal Intent is on, ttfn.
This is how we lose our freedoms. An annoyance leads to bans and requirements that impact much more important matters.
rtfa-troll points out below that anonymous calls are vital for tipsters and whistleblowers. Are you willing to sacrifice that very important check for the sake of not getting a robocall?
More importantly, there are bans and requirements in place *now* that should prevent these robocalls from happening. Where did you get the idea that criminals follow the law?
I have some bad news. The PATRIOT Act already took those freedoms away. Law enforcement doesn't get "Blocked" in the caller ID and your "anonymous tips" aren't truly anonymous. DHS knows what phone it came from, what carrier it went through, etc., etc., etc.
BAN anonymous calls or otherwise hiding their numbers and identities. I can't think of a single legitimate reason why a call should be anonymous. REQUIRE carriers to supply valid CID information or otherwise allow calls to be identified. REQUIRE carriers to have valid information that matches a phone number with a company.
Agreed. My response to the whole OP is, how about some enforcement and cooperation like we're seeing for anti-terrorism? Can't tell me the technology doesn't already exist and is in place to do "other things" like spy on everyone's calls. Probably take a few DHS folks a matter of days to identify ALL the robocall perpetrators in America, for crying out loud.
Because 99% of the people online are stupid.
Actually, 99% of people in real life are stupid as well. Maybe I am just intolerant of idiots and being surround by them.
Not you, of course.
Thanks
A very aggressive assertion. I will agree that people do seem to have become detached from reality more and more, and that common sense seems to have all but disappeared, but people aren't rude because they're stupid and being rude to stupid people does no good. People have always been more aggressive when detached from reality or sneaking around seemingly unknown. The Stanford and Milgram studies referenced in posts above clearly show the psychological effects of detachment from reality. They show that when perceptively relieved of negative consequence anyone will act immorally, i.e. they think they are above the law. With online behavior I would postulate that it's not only contextual or situational but also deals with the social and mental development of the individual. There are a lot of juveniles and those with stunted social development that spend a lot of time online and therefore account for a good portion of the rude comments we see, as well as the flame wars that go on. Don't get me wrong, contextually we can all get drawn into these behaviors at any time but some are better at realizing the behavior is pointless or not acceptable and move on. An illustration of what I am talking about was the Leo Traynor story that appeared here the other day. A 17-year old thought he was playing a game. He was detached from the reality of what he was doing and too juvenile to realize that his actions had severe consequences. He perceived no real danger to himself because of the inherent anonymity of the Internet so he felt he could be far more aggressive and cruel than if he were doing these things in the open. But, deviant behavior like this has always existed. It's just more prevalent on the Internet because the community is bigger.
Thirded! People from countries where most of the roads are 35mph/55kmh or below have lax helmet laws and more cyclists. People in the U.S. have more roads 35mph/55kmh and above, much less stringent driving instruction, lower age for allowing the licensure of drivers, more licensed drivers under the age of 20 than most developed nations, more cities designed around the motor vehicle than the pedestrian, and I could keep going and going. Not the point, really, although good statistics as to why it would be important to have a helmet law. No, the real reason is risk of severe, permanent bodily harm. Especially in a country with socialized medicine where EVERYONE pays for stupid to live out the rest of his days are helmet laws (and any safety laws, really) a good idea. I do believe in personal choice, but not wearing a helmet is more than a little selfish (as well as stupid) if you really stop and think of the consequences of just ONE screw up...and it most likely won't even be your screw up. So, IMHO, wear a helmet, for us all. Or, buy an island somewhere, build your own road and ride with reckless abandon!
"I was deliberately more provocative toward them than ever I'd been before."
This sentence makes me think that, however vile the "troll" could have turned out to be, this wasn't an entirely black-versus-white situation. I suspect this guy was being a jerk back at anyone who was a jerk to him, and it escalated further than he thought it would.
Have you ever had a troll come after you? It all starts off as harmless verbal sparring and ALWAYS escalates. Trolls are like dogs with frisbees and just won't let go, especially when they are minors with no responsibilities, plenty of time on their hands and sociopathic tendencies. What you learn is to cut them off, like Leo tried to do, but some don't go away. Try having your own discussion board some time and be required to deal with trolls. I think your perspective on being a jerk would change dramatically. Plus, he was trying to bait the troll at that point to find him, duh! Just like the cops SHOULD have done way before he had to.
Sort of surprising because I'm fairly certain the language of that threat rises to a criminal level with the threat of bodily harm and kidnapping, especially given that the person making the threat knows the address of the person they are threatening.
Not at all. Firstly, this all happened in the UK, so unless you live there you have no idea how their legal system deals with cases like this. I know that in the U.S. it is dealt with differently state-by-state as there are different laws in different states dealing with cases like this but, one thing holds fairly true throughout. Unless they actually do something, threats mean nothing and the police file your complaint until something happens. Once something happens those threats get used as evidence, but most threats and such go uninvestigated because police just don't have the time. Sorry, there are no super cops that investigate every report that comes in. That's TV myth and misguided presumption in most cases. Unless the guy is caught on the premises or in the act of threatening you, the police aren't gonna care. Have a nice day...
Before or after he found him? A sane person would of given the cops the information and let this be a legal issue. I would of done the same. Basically this kid crossed the line from harmless internet troll, to potential killer when he moved the trolling to the real world. that has consequences and it they ruin his life well it's his fault.
But, like many other knee-jerk reactions to headlines, you failed to read the article to find that the kid was a family friend's kid and that throwing him in the slammer would be the worst thing for a sociopath. So you're saying you'd lock up your friend's kid rather than confront the family and deal with the issue with empathy and regard for the well being of others? Nice sociopathic behavior on your part, btw. The kid needs help, not punishment! He's 17! Still a minor in most developed countries' legal systems. Throwing him in jail would have only made his behavior worse, and might have led to actual physical harm to those involved when he got out. Sociopaths LOVE revenge!
But it wasn't a random person this kid targeted. If you read TFA then you would have seen the part where the kid is the 17-year old son of a friend. The kid was someone Leo knew as a boy as his description of the cookie offer at the meet clearly states. The kid is just messed up and thought he could mess with people with no consequence. Counseling is the best option for that, not dumping him into the UK legal system and making him more antisocial. But, this kid knew his target for a long time. This was NOT a random person attacking another.