# Well disguised serial sock puppets? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 13, 2006, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-disguised-serial-sock-puppets/383925 "2006-12-13T03:44:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2006, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-disguised-serial-sock-puppets/383925/1 "2006-12-13T03:44:33Z")
It seems like we’ve had a succession of guest posters lately who each come in here, start a thread-which turns into a huge flamewar-and eventually end up getting banned. Odd thing is the next one seems to appear only after the previous one has gotten the boot. Not accusing anyone specifically (yet) at present, but it is odd. How well can you disguise your IP addy anymore (or posting location, or ISP company, or other IDing information)? I’ve seen one guy get booted by the admins because they obviously recognized his number… In any event, if such serial trolls exist here I’m pitting them! (or him or her…) ---
**Author:** ![Klaatu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Klaatu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Klaatu)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2006, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-disguised-serial-sock-puppets/383925/2 "2006-12-13T04:04:37Z")
Why are some of you people so obsessed with guests being trolls and socks? Yes, some are. Who gives a flying fuck. Why keep acknowledging them, that’s what they want. The PTB will deal with them. Who are you to accuse anybody? Are you the super duper junior mod sock hunter? And then you want to Pit them. Man, that will sure stop those eeviill trolls and socks. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2006, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-disguised-serial-sock-puppets/383925/3 "2006-12-13T18:42:01Z")
I dunno \ troll behavior has always fascinated me. I’ll point out tho that with one exception I wasn’t one of people feeding them in those 6+ page threads. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2006, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-disguised-serial-sock-puppets/383925/4 "2006-12-13T18:47:03Z")
What I really want to know is why you type all your posts like this. You know, instead of extending the text all the way to the end of the text window, it seems like you are hitting “enter” at just about this point right here. I’m honestly not trying to be snarky, I’m just wondering why you do it like that? ---
**Author:** ![Iggins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Iggins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iggins)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2006, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-disguised-serial-sock-puppets/383925/5 "2006-12-13T19:43:43Z")
[QUOTE=Argent Towers] What I really want to know is why you type all your posts like this. You know, instead of extending the text all the way to the end of the text window, it seems like you are hitting “enter” at just about this point right here. I’m honestly not trying to be snarky, I’m just wondering why you do it like that? [/QUOTE] I’d guess he’s typing the note in another editor, and pasting it into the SDMB box… ---
**Author:** ![Uvula\_Donor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e19adc/32.png) [@Uvula\_Donor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uvula_Donor)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2006, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-disguised-serial-sock-puppets/383925/6 "2006-12-13T19:51:02Z")
[QUOTE=Iggins] I’d guess he’s typing the note in another editor, and pasting it into the SDMB box… [/QUOTE] It’s because his Commodore 64 only has a 40-column display. ---
**Author:** ![Omegaman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e480ec/32.png) [@Omegaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omegaman)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2006, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-disguised-serial-sock-puppets/383925/7 "2006-12-13T20:17:03Z")
[QUOTE=Argent Towers] What I really want to know is why you type all your posts like this. You know, instead of extending the text all the way to the end of the text window, it seems like you are hitting “enter” at just about this point right here. I’m honestly not trying to be snarky, I’m just wondering why you do it like that? [/QUOTE] When I do it , it is because the window I am typing in is not as wide as I run 5 or 6 windows at a time and keep at least one open in the background. ---
**Author:** ![Tyrrell\_McAllister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tyrrell_mcallister/32/16772_2.png) [@Tyrrell\_McAllister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tyrrell_McAllister)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2006, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-disguised-serial-sock-puppets/383925/8 "2006-12-13T20:19:42Z")
I’ve been wondering the same thing about **John DiFool** ’s posts. Why would posting from another editor introduce carriage returns? ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2006, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-disguised-serial-sock-puppets/383925/9 "2006-12-13T20:22:35Z")
How do we know _you’re_ not a troll, **John DiFool**? It’s very much troll-like behavior to draw attention to other trolls. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2006, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-disguised-serial-sock-puppets/383925/10 "2006-12-13T20:26:07Z")
[QUOTE=Klaatu] super duper junior mod sock hunter? [/QUOTE] Ooow! Ooow! Do we get badges? Secret decoder rings? ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2006, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-disguised-serial-sock-puppets/383925/11 "2006-12-13T20:29:51Z")
[QUOTE=Argent Towers] What I really want to know is why you type all your posts like this. You know, instead of extending the text all the way to the end of the text window, it seems like you are hitting “enter” at just about this point right here. I’m honestly not trying to be snarky, I’m just wondering why you do it like that? [/QUOTE] He’s probably hitting enter as he reaches the end of the text editing window, instead of letting the word wrap handle it. The result, of course, is that his posts end up looking like lousy free-verse on most screens. And this post composed the same way: He’s probably hitting enter as he reaches the end of the text editing window, instead of letting the word wrap handle it. The result, of course, is that his posts end up looking like lousy free-verse on most screens. Seriously, John, you do NOT need to do that. Word wrap is your friend. Let word wrap do its job, so we can all stop reading your posts in the voice of an amateur beat poet. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2006, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-disguised-serial-sock-puppets/383925/12 "2006-12-13T20:31:48Z")
[QUOTE=Tyrrell McAllister] I’ve been wondering the same thing about **John DiFool** ’s posts. Why would posting from another editor introduce carriage returns? [/QUOTE] Notepad will do this if word wrap is turned on. I think it puts in returns as part of its own internal logic. When pasted into a textbox, sometimes it comes out looking like this. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2006, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-disguised-serial-sock-puppets/383925/13 "2006-12-13T20:39:16Z")
I think that the short line thing is the effect of using the quick reply box. Until now I have never tried it before but I will just this time as an experiment. I remember this issue coming up before and that was the answer. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2006, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-disguised-serial-sock-puppets/383925/14 "2006-12-13T20:40:27Z")
[QUOTE=hajario] I think that the short line thing is the effect of using the quick reply box. Until now I have never tried it before but I will just this time as an experiment. I remember this issue coming up before and that was the answer. [/QUOTE] Apparently not. ---
**Author:** ![Plynck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Plynck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plynck)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2006, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-disguised-serial-sock-puppets/383925/15 "2006-12-13T20:54:04Z")
[QUOTE=Klaatu] Why keep acknowledging them, that’s what they want. [/QUOTE] I have to agree with this. I tried addressing this in a recent thread (specifically, creating a Pit thread to call out a troll, thereby doubling their attention), but I’m not sure I really made my point. The answer to that was something along the lines of “We are free in the Pit to use certain invective or to call out trolls, something that is denied to us in other forums.” Well, true enough, but I don’t think that it does a lot to advance the cause. Perhaps we should settle for some euphemism in Great Debates; something like “I don’t believe that you are arguing in good faith”, or something like that, which folks would recognize as a sign to just leave the thread. Nothing burns in a vacuum, not even socks. ---
**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2006, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-disguised-serial-sock-puppets/383925/16 "2006-12-13T20:58:16Z")
[QUOTE=Argent Towers] What I really want to know is why you type all your posts like this. You know, instead of extending the text all the way to the end of the text window, it seems like you are hitting “enter” at just about this point right here. I’m honestly not trying to be snarky, I’m just wondering why you do it like that? [/QUOTE] Don’t know about others. But I prefer the style that adds line breaks after a shortish distance. It makes the paragrphs seem better to me, and reduces the number of times you see one paragraph on a single line. Worse too, is that when a line breaks just near the end and you get 90 % of the sentance on one line, whilst the final word ends up on a second line. It looks far worse when you are allowing the computer to auto-format the message rather than supplying your own line breaks. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2006, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-disguised-serial-sock-puppets/383925/17 "2006-12-14T01:42:30Z")
As I said in another thread recently: 1. Old habit from a board where the text would end up as one looooonnnngggg line if you didn’t put hard returns in. People there got annoyed if you did _that_. 2. A complete and total refusal to submit to the will of the majority. This is the only board I’ve been on (you can Google my pseudonym if you like-add “sim racing” since that is one of my major hobbies) where I’ve gotten grief for it. 3. What bigfathairyeffindifference does it really make anyway? 4. Note the connotations of said pseudonym. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2006, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-disguised-serial-sock-puppets/383925/18 "2006-12-14T01:52:07Z")
I wonder if they’d give me Mod powers if I promised to only use them to edit unnecessary \s from funky-looking posts… ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2006, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-disguised-serial-sock-puppets/383925/19 "2006-12-14T01:58:27Z")
[QUOTE=John DiFool] As I said in another thread recently: 1. Old habit from a board where the text would end up as one looooonnnngggg line if you didn’t put hard returns in. People there got annoyed if you did _that_. 2. A complete and total refusal to submit to the will of the majority. This is the only board I’ve been on (you can Google my pseudonym if you like-add “sim racing” since that is one of my major hobbies) where I’ve gotten grief for it. 3. What bigfathairyeffindifference does it really make anyway? 4. Note the connotations of said pseudonym. [/QUOTE] For #3, it reduces the number of posts on a page, which can make multipage threads a little more of a pain in the butt to load. For #2, this isn’t a board where you want your formatting style to stick out. We don’t use avatars, don’t change fonts, don’t use funky colors, attempt to use proper grammar and spelling (how many typos have I made) - a hell of a lot of us don’t bother with sig lines. We tend to stick out with content, not format - and we tend to respect the people who stick out with content. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Who](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Doctor\_Who](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Who)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2006, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-disguised-serial-sock-puppets/383925/20 "2006-12-14T01:59:37Z")
OK, I’ll bite: > [@John DiFool](#): > > 1. Old habit from a board where the text would end up as one looooonnnngggg line if you > didn’t put hard returns in. People there got annoyed if you did _that_. People here get annoyed when you put hard returns in. Why were you willing to alleviate their irritation and not ours? > [@](#): > > 1. A complete and total refusal to submit to the will of the majority. This is the only board I’ve > been on (you can Google my pseudonym if you like-add “sim racing” since that is one of my > major hobbies) where I’ve gotten grief for it. As pointed out above, you submitted to the will of the majority on your other board by putting in hard returns. Also — this board, unlike most others, also gives grief for shitty spelling, bad grammar, and ill-thought out posts. Why are you submitting to the majority by refusing to pepper your speech with 3ll3speak, unnecessary !!!,and random OPs about “three words ending in gry.” > [@](#): > > 1. What bigfathairyeffindifference does it really make anyway? Not much in the grand scheme of things. However, I find it distracting and unnecessary. > [@](#): > > 1. Note the connotations of said pseudonym. Noted. Ok, just kidding there - but seriously, John - just stop hitting Enter. Then we’ll be able to read your posts and say “hey, that’s a great freaking point!” and not “Augh! Why does this idiot keep hitting enter?” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-disguised-serial-sock-puppets/383925.md?page=2)