# Concerning Shodan and Idle Thoughts **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [November 25, 2017, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concerning-shodan-and-idle-thoughts/802700 "2017-11-25T20:43:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2017, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concerning-shodan-and-idle-thoughts/802700/81 "2017-11-26T22:39:00Z")
Shodan’s regards are a bit of a dead horse. If you want to beat it go ahead and do so in another thread or down a quarry somewhere. Do not continue in this thread. ---
**Author:** ![Fluffy\_PickleSniffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/77aa72/32.png) [@Fluffy\_PickleSniffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fluffy_PickleSniffer)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2017, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concerning-shodan-and-idle-thoughts/802700/82 "2017-11-27T01:46:25Z")
Wow, I go away for Thanksgiving and miss all the fun. I had no idea anything was wrong until I saw the post IT put up on facebook, which left me saying “Whaaaaaaa?” - so, THANK YOU Ed for giving us both sides of the story, it’s appreciated. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2017, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concerning-shodan-and-idle-thoughts/802700/83 "2017-11-27T06:12:54Z")
Looking at the OP in the Giraffe Board, it looks to me like a knowing “suicide by cop”, not an unfortunate incident, but I guess we’ll never know. ---
**Author:** ![raventhief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/raventhief/32/4_2.png) [@raventhief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raventhief)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2017, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concerning-shodan-and-idle-thoughts/802700/84 "2017-11-27T06:45:21Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > Looking at the OP in the Giraffe Board, it looks to me like a knowing “suicide by cop”, not an unfortunate incident, but I guess we’ll never know. Really? It didn’t strike me that way at all. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2017, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concerning-shodan-and-idle-thoughts/802700/85 "2017-11-27T08:08:06Z")
I don’t get how we get “Shodan didn’t rat **IT** out” from “Shodan PMed **IT** \* and another mod\*”, personally. I get that it was seemingly without animus, and that it was very much **IT** that escalated things, but that’s still bringing _someone else_ into the loop without first discussing just with **IT**. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2017, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concerning-shodan-and-idle-thoughts/802700/86 "2017-11-27T08:15:06Z")
> [@kayT](#): > > I have been wondering about something throughout this whole thread and I finally have to ask: Does everyone else think **Idle Thoughts** was a great mod and poster? I thought he was above average in both aspects but I wouldn’t go as far as great; too many of the greats are also, like him, former in both regards. We disagreed strongly a couple times (as a poster) and I stung him a time or two but it never seemed to have any effect in how he treated me as a Mod or in any other respects. So yeah - I’ll miss him. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2017, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concerning-shodan-and-idle-thoughts/802700/87 "2017-11-27T08:57:42Z")
> [@raventhief](#): > > Really? It didn’t strike me that way at all. I can’t think of any good reason to not post the thread here on the SDMB, except if - as he explicitly mentions - you want the chance to rant about all of the assholes and trolls. Which, then, implies that he was pretty fed up with all of the assholes and trolls, and needed an excuse to get away from it all. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2017, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concerning-shodan-and-idle-thoughts/802700/88 "2017-11-27T13:23:48Z")
I think we’re all missing the biggest reveal here. If you become a mod, you get to talk to Ed on the phone. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2017, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concerning-shodan-and-idle-thoughts/802700/89 "2017-11-27T13:52:03Z")
I’m saddened to see IT go, I liked him both as a mod and a poster. I like **Shodan** too so I’m pleased that he bears no responsibility for this situation. I notice that IT prefaced his thread on the other board by emphasizing that he would be revealing no secrets or information gained through his position as a mod. Which makes the whole Ask an SDMB thread rather pointless as those would be precisely the things most people would want to know. The actual thread turns out to be as dull as dishwater which makes the whole affair seem somehow even sadder. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2017, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concerning-shodan-and-idle-thoughts/802700/90 "2017-11-27T15:02:21Z")
> [@Johnny\_Bravo](#): > > I think we’re all missing the biggest reveal here. > > If you become a mod, you get to talk to Ed on the phone. That sounds like “visit the principal in his office” to me. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2017, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concerning-shodan-and-idle-thoughts/802700/91 "2017-11-27T15:45:52Z")
There’s also a phone call during the process of becoming a mod. Though of course it’s more like a job interview than a casual conversation. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2017, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concerning-shodan-and-idle-thoughts/802700/92 "2017-11-27T15:54:58Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > Looking at the OP in the Giraffe Board, it looks to me like a knowing “suicide by cop”, not an unfortunate incident, but I guess we’ll never know. If you know anything at all about **IT** , that’s an utterly absurd idea. ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2017, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concerning-shodan-and-idle-thoughts/802700/93 "2017-11-27T16:02:54Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > I don’t get how we get “Shodan didn’t rat **IT** out” from “Shodan PMed **IT** \* and another mod\*”, personally. I get that it was seemingly without animus, and that it was very much **IT** that escalated things, but that’s still bringing _someone else_ into the loop without first discussing just with **IT**. If you see something, say something. It appears that **Idle Thoughts** didn’t have the balls to discuss SDMB posters with the SDMB posters on the SDMB. It’s not exactly late breaking news that haters prefer to talk about others in “Behind Your Back”. AFAIK, the existing SDMB rules only apply to members of the SDMB, and SDMB mods. If you chose to ignore those rules, so be it. It appears that **Idle Thoughts** has been involved in multiple discussions, with various mods, over this issue. He was repeatedly reminded of the rules. He finally discussed his behavior with the World-renowned Gormless Wienie Administrator. According to this excerpt from the OP - \*6. It’s possible this rule had slipped IT’s mind. However, despite being repeatedly reminded of it by the rest of the staff, he insisted that he was within his rights to post about SDMB business offboard. I found this disturbing. 1. I discussed this matter with IT on the phone. We came to a parting of the ways. …IT’s departure stemmed solely from his violation of a written staff rule he was supposed to have known about and which was brought to his attention.\* **Idle Thoughts** is resonsible for his own actions and behavior. ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2017, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concerning-shodan-and-idle-thoughts/802700/94 "2017-11-27T16:31:40Z")
> [@Baal\_Houtham](#): > > I think that **Colibri** ’s participation in the Shodan pitting added to the flames of vigilante justice. I agree with this. By the time Colibri joined that thread, it had already been clarified that the main thrust of that thread was the supposed tattling to the mods. Colibri, a mod himself and presumably a participant in the IT mod discussion, would have known that this was a false premise. And yet, his participation was in the form of eager participation in the pile-on. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2017, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concerning-shodan-and-idle-thoughts/802700/95 "2017-11-27T17:10:44Z")
I’ve often wondered how Mods, posting as members, who have expressed some pretty negative opinions about certain regular untermenchen could be expected to then moderate these same people fairly. Doesn’t happen often, and not by all Mods, but I’ve seen it, and it does make me think. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2017, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concerning-shodan-and-idle-thoughts/802700/96 "2017-11-27T17:19:33Z")
> [@NAF1138](#): > > Better watch it or I’ll report you for insulting Shodan in that post. 😛 > > To Bone: > > I get it. I do. He broke a rule, and even if he thought the rule was silly rules are rules. I even understand that Idle has a tendency to escalate things past the point of no return very rapidly. > > But, I know Idle pretty well. I have to assume the mods do too after working with him for so long. I know how to read through his exaggeration and compare his notes to your and see how things likely went down. The situation was handled with a lack of nuance and a preference to follow the letter rather than the spirit of the law that I find deeply disappointing is all. I mostly just find the result disappointing. There doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with the way it was handled. I wish that this could have ended with a slap on the wrist in light of the efforts IT has put forward on this board. ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2017, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concerning-shodan-and-idle-thoughts/802700/97 "2017-11-27T17:25:44Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > I’ve often wondered how Mods, posting as members, who have expressed some pretty negative opinions about certain regular untermenchen could be expected to then moderate these same people fairly. > > Doesn’t happen often, and not by all Mods, but I’ve seen it, and it does make me think. These mods are going to have the same opinion of those posters regardless of whether they post those sentiments or not. I think it’s unavoidable. Mods are people like anyone else, and are going to have negative opinions of other people on occasion. It may or not affect their moderating, but I don’t think there’s really anything that can be done about it. ---
**Author:** ![NAF1138](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naf1138/32/3245_2.png) [@NAF1138](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NAF1138)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2017, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concerning-shodan-and-idle-thoughts/802700/98 "2017-11-27T17:29:28Z")
> [@doorhinge](#): > > If you see something, say something. It appears that **Idle Thoughts** didn’t have the balls to discuss SDMB posters with the SDMB posters on the SDMB. It’s not exactly late breaking news that haters prefer to talk about others in “Behind Your Back”. This is silly and unfounded and frankly unfair to Idle. He said nothing negative about any poster in that thread. He specifically defended Shodan which is why this whole thing started. He was being nice and Shodan got mad. He’s also hasn’t particularly had a problem talking about other posters on the SDMB. [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=20594989&postcount=60](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=20594989&postcount=60) [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=20596691&postcount=119](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=20596691&postcount=119) [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=20541957&postcount=41](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=20541957&postcount=41) [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=20383520&postcount=173](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=20383520&postcount=173) Character assassination is a bad look particularly when you aren’t paying close attention to what you are attacking. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2017, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concerning-shodan-and-idle-thoughts/802700/99 "2017-11-27T17:32:18Z")
> [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#): > > I mostly just find the result disappointing. There doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with the way it was handled. I wish that this could have ended with a slap on the wrist in light of the efforts IT has put forward on this board. That sort of light treatment only works if the staffer accepts management’s statement of the rules that apply to the staffer and agrees to comply in the future. If the staffer refuses to accept management’s rules, then even the most gormless manager has to end the relationship ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Dead\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Cat)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2017, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concerning-shodan-and-idle-thoughts/802700/100 "2017-11-27T18:25:26Z")
> [@kayT](#): > > I have been wondering about something throughout this whole thread and I finally have to ask: Does everyone else think **Idle Thoughts** was a great mod and poster? Did no one else have some issues with his behavior (specifically with regard to the Death Pool)? It does not seem to me that the rule-breaking at the end was the only time he was less than wonderful. I was going to post something similar, so no, you’re not alone. Personally I think this is not the first (or second, or third) time he showed shockingly poor judgement as a moderator and as such I’m glad he’s gone. Don’t really have strong feelings about him as a poster - I remember he started some interesting threads, and some weird ones, but I won’t particularly miss his posts. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concerning-shodan-and-idle-thoughts/802700.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concerning-shodan-and-idle-thoughts/802700.md?page=6)