Heh!

There I was over at Dioclese’s place and a commenter breezed in complaining about having upset the folks over at Max Farquar’s place. Now as we all know there is a bit of history here and this commenter, calling himself John Smith’s Bitter not only knew this, but having got involved in a bun-fight wanted Dioclese to wade in on his side. Being a curious sort, I popped over to see what all the fuss was about. And, as is usual with these spats, it wan’t over much. However, it is worth mentioning here as you will see…

Firstly, Microdave commented on the events of D Day seventy years ago and there was nothing controversial in what he said. It was this comment that apparently incensed Mr Smith’s Bitter. Unfortunately, as was pointed out to him by more than one person, he had not so much seized the wrong end of the stick, but had grasped another stick in a different forest entirely. Just another cretin making a prick out of himself on the interwebs, then. Again, nothing much to see here, you may think. Indeed, so did I but the ensuing blistering from the other commenters made for some mild entertainment. I mean, if you wade into a conversation, completely misinterpret what has been said and call the poster a cunt into the bargain and then complain that you are being insulted, the inevitable blood letting is entirely predictable.

However, what transpired was even more interesting especially to those of us who have had recent experience of trolling. Mr Smith’s Bitter confessed to hiding behind anonymous proxies in order to protect himself from those nasty bloggers who – presumably – want to rush round to his gaff and string him up. So, hang on a mo… where have we had this before? Is this not the MO used by our unloved troll Dickie Doubleday a couple of years back? Although as DD discovered to his cost, anyone who can forensically examine a WordPress log can deduce the originating IP.

Well, it may just be a coincidence. After all, there are plenty of people out there using anonymous proxies. However, I got an honourable mention. My ears pricked up. Well, they would, wouldn’t they? At this point, Bitter Smith goes off on one about moderation… Now, I don’t want to go all tinfoil hat here, but is this not exactly the issue that Rickie AKA Dickie Doubleday gets all obsessed about? Indeed, he has ranted about this very subject, taking my name in vain over at Dioclese’s just recently.

So, one similarity is a coincidence. Sure, there are plenty of jerks who cannot read and comprehend plain English and consequently go off on one having got it ll wrong. Two is getting mildly suspicious, but the obsession about moderation is all too familiar. If it is DD, then he has upped his game somewhat – having stirred up the MF crowd and then taking it over to Dioclese’s with the aim of getting him involved – knowing full well that there’s no love lost. Although it didn’t work. You’ve almost got to admire it. Unfortunately, he couldn’t resist giving the game away, because although I cannot be one hundred percent sure, the balance of probabilities has DD written all over this – and we all know how much he hates bloggers – especially those who dare to disagree with his precious opinions.

But, guys, please – you’ve been trolled. well and truly.