LinkSwarm.com -- PROJECT SHIT LINK

For a place that's a waste of time, that no one cares about, that sensible people avoid... sure seeing a lot of you around these days.

You probably don't realize we've seen untold dozens breeze in dramatically and post the same drivel you're posting now, and imagine you're having any effect on anyone apart from providing the latest in a long series of fish-in-a-barrel moments. Sadly, these are always kind of a trade-off. If you were any better at this, you'd probably be enjoying yourself a lot more, and would eventually find a home here.

Incidentally, those mailing lists you tried to sign me up for? That was sort of charming in its naivete, but your time is really better spent organizing your thoughts before posting. You coined 'ignorentsia' in a private message to me earlier, so you can't be all bad.

ghostrider: I heart internets tuff guys, they all smell the same.

I was thinking the same thing. Why is it such a common net-redneckism to start flailing all about in the middle of an otherwise gentlemanly flamewar and sneer that someone wouldn't be saying something if only 'this was real life'? I literally never read a post and think 'wow, this dude wouldn't be saying that if this weren't the Internet.' Yet it clearly occurs to a slice of humanity, such as it is, and often as the entire content of their argument. It feels last-ditch and compensatory. It's the grown-up version of 'my dad can kick your dad's ass'. Who fucking cares? Even if true, what relevance does it have, apart from making one party feel better about the way things are going for them?

If I had to theorize, which I don't, I would guess these types are unfamiliar with the net, and, forced to deal with unwelcome ideas without the recourse of immediate hostile consequences, try to hijack the dialog by pseudo-escalating it onto grounds where they feel more at ease, where feelings of bewilderment and/or powerlessness can be resolved -- presumably, in this case, with violence, or at least repeated promises of violence.

That's not only lame, and naive, but also immaterial. This isn't Scrabble, either, and thank your lucky stars, because then the proverbial undesired anal intercourse would be happening a-go-go, and those hamfists you're using to pound your chest in between errant keyboard pokes would instead be helping you keep your poop in. But who cares? It's not supposed to be Scrabble. It's supposed to be the Internet, and somebody's feelings got all wound up in their panties because deep inside, holmes turned into a woman for just a second.

In summary, you may want to consider that whatever recourse to actual physical fighting may amount to in terms of your intellect, threats of it online are completely fucking cowardly. These types always want to come off hard, but clearly have great difficulty dealing with what they're actually getting, which is dialogue. It reminds me of the simpler jocks in highschool who were scared of big words and tried to compensate with the tough-guy routine. No one, in the history of the Internet, is ever going to fly to your hometown to have a big showdown, so it's a predetermined easy out that allows a thin premise to detachment -- which any observation clearly shows there is no real claim to. Otherwise you wouldn't be running around wailing and gnashing your teeth and begging for someone to put you out of your self-purchased misery by changing the subject to your invitation to the OK corral, high noon, say yer prayers varmint.

In short, these guys lose the minute they pick this route, but generally seem to lack the instruments to tell.

Anyway, how is this not real life? Davboz, do you define real life as 'punching distance'? The reflection on ones character kind of invites itself, and isn't my fault in the slightest.