Why do people troll? Can we prevent trolling or limit the damage trolls do? Here are some thoughts on trollology derived from academic studies and web research.
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Member since:2006-03-02
I completely disagree. I try to write correctly because I'm obsessive, but that's my problem. The main thing is to not write total rubbish, so if you want to say something and you want to be understood and you want to not be a jerk, you'll put a modicum of effort into making what you write presentable. BUT the fact is, forums like this are of only slightly more value than a chat session. They truly have no long-term value, or if they do, then the writer will turn around later and write a blog article about the same thing.
Posting to online forums is nothing but absolute faffing about. One may learn something now and again, and some of the comments are indeed insightful and interesting, but it is PLAY. This is not work. We do not earn money or even any kind of meaningful browny points from doing this. We're just here to have a good time, like shooting the breeze at a pub or your local gaming club. The articles may be serious, but for most of us, reading them and especially for commenting on them, this is done purely for the enjoyment of it.
So if someone decides not to make a second pass over their comment to fix a mistake or two, then people just need to let it go. Especially if their point is still CLEAR. And even if it's not, why do we care? Just ignore it and move on.
Personally, I have another dozen or so CS and EE departments I have to submit employment applications to, so I'm going to stop mucking about and do that now. 
Member since:2006-03-02
So, in other words, "putting in the effort" is the last thing we should be worrying about, because most of us have lives and work and stuff to do. While it can be edifying to participate in these discussions, obsessing over minor details of form is a complete waste of time and energy.
Of course, if you choose to expend your energy that way, that's entirely up to you, and those of us who do read your comments will appreciate the cleanliness. But it isn't anything I would recommend.
"In the first episode of Microsoft's new film series 'On the Whiteboard', Editor Pamela Woon chats with two-time Oscar winner Randy Thom about the (often underestimated) importance of sound in human-technology interactions. Thom, the lead sound designer at Skywalker Ranch who worked on films such as The Incredibles, Castaway and Forrest Gump, says that people rarely consider the significance of those signature sounds that come from their trusty devices, whether it be a cell phone, a computer or a tablet."
"Microsoft has sensationally abandoned its controversial plans to restrict the sharing of XBox One games, and has also removed daily online authentication requirements for its forthcoming console", reports The Guardian. They had no choice. Still a good move."A snippet of code in the Steam digital distribution platform has revealed that Valve may be planning to let users easily share their games with friends in the future. The Verge has verified the code's authenticity, which was originally spotted by a member of the NeoGAF gaming forum; the code references a 'shared game library' and a notification that would alert a user when their games are currently in use by a borrower." This would change the, uh, game.
Official Apple statement on PRISM and privacy: "Regardless of the circumstances, our Legal team conducts an evaluation of each request and, only if appropriate, we retrieve and deliver the narrowest possible set of information to the authorities. In fact, from time to time when we see inconsistencies or inaccuracies in a request, we will refuse to fulfill it." This is basically Apple re-publishing their earlier statement in a more official manner. You either believe it, or you don't.
The open source Contiki operating system and its commercial Thingsquare distribution are making strides towards the connected home. According to a Computerworld article, a new LED light bulb manufacturer is putting small computers into their light bulbs. Each computer runs the Contiki OS, which gives each bulb an IP address and allows them to be controlled with a smartphone application. To connect the bulbs to the application, the bulbs use both Wi-Fi and the much lower power IEEE 802.15.4 mesh technology.
"Google asked the secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court on Tuesday to ease long-standing gag orders over data requests it makes, arguing that the company has a constitutional right to speak about information it's forced to give the government. The legal filing, which cites the First Amendment's guarantee of free speech, is the latest move by the California-based tech giant to protect its reputation in the aftermath of news reports about sweeping National Security Agency surveillance of Internet traffic." Draining the ditch after the cow has drowned in it."I can't find one person who has been using the Nexus 7 for an extended period of time, and hasn't seen a massive downgrade in performance. Just what kind of downgrade are we talking here? I cannot pick up my Nexus 7 without experiencing problems like a lag of ten seconds, or more, just to rotate the display; touches refusing to acknowledged; stuttering notification panel actions; and unresponsive apps." Fully and utterly agreed. My Nexus 7 was blazing-fast and awesome for a few months, and at some point, it just started sucking. Just like that. I've tried loads of ROMs, and nothing helps.A new release of the hobby operating system MenuetOS! The release notes are a bit non-descript, but you'll have to take what you can get: "updates and improvements (picview, httpc, ehci, ...)"."The Internet is one of the most transformative technologies of our lifetimes. But for 2 out of every 3 people on earth, a fast, affordable Internet connection is still out of reach. And this is far from being a solved problem. There are many terrestrial challenges to Internet connectivity - jungles, archipelagos, mountains. There are also major cost challenges. Right now, for example, in most of the countries in the southern hemisphere, the cost of an Internet connection is more than a month's income. Solving these problems isn't simply a question of time: it requires looking at the problem of access from new angles. So today we're unveiling our latest moonshot from Google[x]: balloon-powered Internet access." Insane."MineAssemble is a tiny bootable Minecraft clone written partly in x86 assembly. I made it first and foremost because a university assignment required me to implement a game in assembly for a computer systems course. Because I had never implemented anything more complex than a 'Hello World' bootloader before, I decided I wanted to learn about writing my own kernel code at the same time. Note that the goal of this project was not to write highly efficient hand-optimized assembly code, but rather to have fun and write code that balances readability and speed. This is primarily accomplished by proper commenting and consistent code structuring." Just cool.
Member since:
2006-04-10
If the person can't help making grammar mistakes it is alright. But often times the writer could write perfectly well but doesn't care to put in the effort. This is not some throw away chat session where are few mistakes are okay. This will be read by a lot of people and it makes a statement that you actually don't care that much about the discussion.