Ripe TV

The dark, grotesque underbelly of the internets has exploded!

The World of Web Trollin at NYT Online

This lovely little article has actually set off a chain of events that has provided me with a great many... ahem... lulz.

Encyclopedia Dramatica has been down for most of the day. I don't know if it's been hacked or if it's crashed from too much traffic. Either way, it's down.

Then there's LiveJournal. I don't know if this stuff is continued trolling from Weev in his Batcave in the Emirates or what, but it's hilarious either way. In case you're wondering, yes, it's full of twisted facts, fudged timelines, and a whole lot of bias -- so don't believe any of it -- but don't let that spoil the entertainment value for you. It's an elegant crackpot theory.

Jason Fortuny's blog is far less lol-filled, but here

So do you think these guys are really sweating and angry that their philosophies haven't been properly conveyed? Or are they laughing it up in their jetsetting lives as their investment portfolios continue to rake in the cash that they tote around in Rolls Royces as they 'do it for the lulz'? As I put it to a friend, these guys are like gangsta rappers, without any musical talent, fashion sense, or other redeeming qualities. They've cut right to the throwin' dollas and poppin' bottles point. Too bad they're not part of a socio-economic underclass the way the hip hop homies are.

I'm not sure why I'm enjoying watching the serpent eat its tail so much. Maybe it's because these guys, like religious fundamentalists, believe a rigid set of rules should be enforced on everyone but them, with themselves as the arbiters of said rules. They just can't handle getting pwned by a journalist who ran a story making them look like, well... trolls, complete with dorky, diminutive photos. So they're trying to claim some moral victory. One of them even claimed that Socrates was a troll.

Yeah, okay, nice try there sparky.

I'll admit to having done some mild trolling myself -- to right-wing nutjobs who think women don't belong in government -- and I've been the victim of trolls sometimes too. It's true that the best thing to do is just ignore them and get away from the topic that got them riled up in the first place. But one troll crossed the line and the police had to get involved. I guess you haven't really made it in Hollywood until you get your first bona fide stalker.

No matter how scary it gets though, the thing about trolling is that it's essentially and viscerally stupid. Even though it's driven teen girls to suicide, gotten people fired, broken up relationships, and generally ruined lives, it always manages to be exceedingly dumb. It was a singular experience to be sitting in a witness room at a police station, reading aloud an example of horrific trolling using language and threats that can't even be repeated here, and being horrified, revolted, and entertained at the same time. The vitriol and abusiveness was so absurd that even though I was scared and vaguely humiliated, I started laughing. I couldn't help it.

Because really, no matter how diabolical or elaborate, trolling is the equivalent of running up to a hot girl while wearing a Richard Nixon mask and a sumo diaper and yelling "GIGGITY GIGGITY GOO!" at her before running away laughing like a maniac.

So I salute you, trolls of the world, for the lulz you have given me the last few days. And I salute the New York Times, both for this article, and for having a few trolls in their Op Ed department.

GIGGITY GIGGITY GIGG-AH-TY!

Source

The Vatican has updated their top 7 lists recently. In addition to the 7 cardinal sins (popularly known was “deadly”) they’ve issued an additional 7 social sins to keep up with the changing ability of society to sin in inventive, new ways. Says l'Osservatore Romano, the voice of the Vatican:

`You offend God not only by stealing, taking the Lord's name in vain or coveting your neighbor's wife, but also by wrecking the environment, carrying out morally debatable experiments that manipulate DNA or harm embryos,''

The new social sins, for your information, are as follows:
1. ``Bioethical' violations such as birth control
2. ``Morally dubious'' experiments such as stem cell research
3. Drug abuse
4. Polluting the environment
5. Contributing to widening divide between rich and poor
6. Excessive wealth
7. Creating poverty

Source

In Rome, a priest participating in a church-sponsored football (the Euro kind with round, chequed balls) match was possessed by rage when an Italian referee made what, in his divine wisdom, he classified as a questionable call.

A footballing priest has been sent off in a church tournament for throwing his shirt at the referee, Italian media reported Sunday.

It gets so much better, though. Instead of taking back his actions, apologizing, or maybe repenting (rimshot), he issued to following statement regarding the grave and unsettling trespasses:

"We are retiring the team," Franco De Rose told Italy's ANSA news service. "We are tired of having to submit to injustices every Sunday."