On Wed, 21 Jun 2006 13:06:35 GMT, "Thomas Wentworth"
wrote:

I don't know MIC ,, but... many of his postings contain links to very
interesting boating web sites. In fact, I have saved many of his postings
so that I don't lose the info..

Thanks...


What I like about usenet discussions. Well sometimes you get good
relevent information on a subject or hobby. Or sometimes you are
entertained. And then there are the trolls

Internet Trolls
People who delight in upsetting other Internet users are known as
'trolls'. This article examines the phenomenon.
members.aol.com/intwg/trolls.htm - 22k - 19 Jun 2006

Flame Wars and Other Online Arguments
Internet trolls are people who set out to start arguments or otherwise
make people on message boards uncomfortable. They can do this by
posting "flamebait" ...
members.aol.com/intwg/flamewars.htm - 33k -


http://members.aol.com/intwg/trolls.htm#WDIM
"Some people — particularly those who have been online for years — are
not upset by trolls and consider them an inevitable hazard of using
the net."

"It would be nice if everybody was so easy-going, but the sad fact is
that trolls do discourage people. Established posters may leave a
message board because of the arguments that trolls ignite, and lurkers
(people who read but do not post) may decide that they do not want to
expose themselves to abuse and thus never get involved."

"The Internet is a wonderful resource which is breaking down barriers
and stripping away prejudice. Trolls threaten our continued enjoyment
of this beautiful forum for ideas."

" What Can be Done about Trolls?

When you suspect that somebody is a troll, you might try responding
with a polite, mild message to see if it's just somebody in a bad
mood. Internet users sometimes let their passions get away from them
when seated safely behind their keyboard. If you ignore their bluster
and respond in a pleasant manner, they usually calm down.

However, if the person persists in being beastly, and seems to enjoy
being unpleasant, the only effective position is summed up as follows:

The only way to deal with trolls is to limit your reaction to
reminding others not to respond to trolls.

When you try to reason with a troll, he wins. When you insult a troll,
he wins. When you scream at a troll, he wins. The only thing that
trolls can't handle is being ignored."

http://members.aol.com/intwg/guide.htm
"The Internet Writing Guide takes about ten minutes to read."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_troll
"For many people, the characterising feature of trolling is the
perception of intent to disrupt a community in some way. Inflammatory,
sarcastic, disruptive or humorous content is posted, meant to draw
other users into engaging the troll in a fruitless confrontation. The
greater the reaction from the community the more likely the user is to
troll again, as the person develops beliefs that certain actions
achieve his/her goal to cause chaos. This gives rise to the often
repeated protocol in Internet cultu "Do not feed the trolls."

Suggested links for trolls:
http://www.boatdating.com/

Bascially I usually limit my participation on use net to URL's that
are of interest to me relating to boating. And by no means do I think
that it is significant but if it contributes to the hobby-sport and
some find it useful then, great.

I guess I could try and be entertaining in a response but according to
the info. on trolls, which is great advice and not just for usenet, it
will just remain as above.

Coffee filter keep the grinds out of the beveridge, similar technology
exists for trolls, phew.....

Fair winds, Mic 67