Site Tracking Adventure #3: March 3, 2007

First of all, I apologize, but for reasons I won't go into at the moment, I can't post a link to where I found this. You'll just to have to take my word for it that, yes, "Darth Yoda's" comments here are indeed directed at me.

In the many years of running this site in its various incarnations, I have seen all kinds of commentary on it. A lot of it good, some of it bad, but no matter how much I may disagree with them or think they're dumb, rarely do the negative remarks cross the line between "being just someone's opinion" and "deliberate slander". This one leaps that line with a whole rainbow trail of flying colors behind it.

Apparently, Darth Yoda has some kind of grudge against some site I'm friends with. But he does not make any indication of what site(s) he's referring to and is thus leaving himself wide open to interpretation and misinterpretation. Who does he consider "malicious" and why? Is he someone who got trashed in DBDH Arena? Is he Game Critic Boy? Does he have something against helicopters powered by the word "dude"? Is he someone from a certain message board that got referenced in a recent edition of the RAU Gallery? Who knows? But apparently, anyone who links to whatever website it is he doesn't like *BEWARE* because you'll be branded "malicious" and accused of making "phishing attacks". This is extraordinarily juvenile behavior. I'm right up front in admitting that I've had my fair share of rivalries with other websites. I'm not coy about my contempt for the Game Pond. But I have *NEVER* given anyone crap just for linking to them.

The sad part is, this isn't the first time I've been on the receiving end of accusations like this. Several years ago, a user who had been previously harassing people on the Game Pond (big surprise there!) was stomping around my forums accusing me left and right of "destroying" some websites and message boards. His posts were angry enough, but extraordinarily vague. He never once mentioned what the names of these sites/boards were, let alone provided an URL or screencap of proof. Should I even mention that I didn't even have the slightest clue who this person was, other than some random Game Pond bozo - the very type that gave the place the reputation it ultimately ended up with?

What I particularly love about "Darth Yoda's" accusations is that his reasoning behind suspecting that I launch phishing attacks is based almost entirely on the fact that I use an internet pseudonym, while HE HIMSELF is obviously NOT using his real name either, but rather a concactenation of two character names from a VERY popular series of movies. My name may not be the one I was born with, but it's MY original creation, and speaks more about me than "Darth Yoda" can about anyone, other than "too stupid or lazy to think of anything better". Considering that Darth Yoda can't think of any other reason someone might want to keep their internet identity a secret, I'm leaning towards the former. In fact, I have a better name for Darth Yoda. Hint: It rhymes with "Hippo Spit".

It is a well-known ideal that it is customary to lurk around a website and/or its message board to get an idea of what the people involved are like and where they're coming from before you go shooting your mouth off about them. If Darth Yoda had, he would see that I've had a long ugly history with the kinds of people who bomb guestbooks, email, and message boards. I've dealt with everything from cyberstalkers to people who register names like "FO KILLER" at my board to people obsessed with posting pictures of violent porn at some point or another. And maybe, just maybe, if Darth Yoda had done the customary lurking, he might've run into that Port Saiid topic I made several years before I registered the domain complaining that I couldn't register one for the very reason that my address would become available to those very people. (And why, praytell, would ANYONE be running a WHOIS on my domain unless they're specifically trying to find out who I am and where I live??) Well, as you can see, I did register the domain, but did so privately. Here's the ultimate irony: There are people in the community who have known me for years and years who actually DO know my real name (and not just Crawl). So, I'm not "hiding" from everyone. But I see no reason to trust such information to Darth Yoda.

Generally speaking, when you're new to the internet, it is not a good idea to falsely accuse the webmasters of LONG-ESTABLISHED websites of "phishing attacks". We're older than you. We're smarter than you. We're more experienced than you. If the WRONG person gets the idea that you're posting slander about THEM or THEIR website, then a "phishing attack" will be the LEAST of your worries. You can mark my words on that.

In conclusion, the webmaster of FlyingOmelette.com and the RAU Gallery would like to extend a personal invitation to Darth Yoda to turn his undivided attention to the middle fingers on our hands which are currently situated directly in front of his face.

Comments from the RAU Gallery:

	Robin: For heaven's sake! Phishing attacks? That's a new one. Junus Crowe is right. The internet just keeps getting more and more stupid.
	Nucleo: Oh, I hope it wasn't because of me. People tend to think I'm malicious just because I'm a mountaindevil. =(
	Honen: How could anyone think you're malicious, professor? It was no doubt my raging hostile Oni countenance dat put ze scare into him.
	Nucleo: You really feel that way, Honen? Even though I once chewed your shoulder up?
	Honen: Eh. It waz just a flesh wound.
	Christopher: Wonder what's worse: A guy who thinks we're a part of some identity theft ring or the guy who said that we all look exactly the same as we did 20 years ago? Too bad that second guy missed the Site Tracking Adventures by about a month.
	Preston: I'm gonna have to say the latter was worse. Sure, it's not nice to be falsely accused of breaking internet law, but on the other hand, how could anyone seriously think I still look like this:
	Lukyan: Oh, MAN!!! Would you people STOP doing that! STOP posting old photos of yourselves. It's freaking me out!
	Deuce: God damn, Preston! What the hell was up with you in the 80's? And I thought *I* looked bad back then.
	Preston: I guess it's not hard to see why FO almost forgot about me. =(
	Robin: But we're all very grateful that she didn't.
	Preston: Oh, that's sweet of you, Ms. Calypson. I appreciate it.
	Chester: Dude! One time I went fishing, and I caught a boot.
** CLICK HERE FOR EXTRA INSIGHT FROM THE FORUMS ** UPDATE TO THIS SITUATION!!! I had found evidence on a blog that the people on the forum this post came from have a little history of doing this to authors who use pseudonyms on the internet. However, the blog found out I was linking to them and deleted the posts. I do my job a little too well, I suppose. But apparently what this means is that we live in a world in which people actually believe that the name you choose to go by directly correlates to the quality of your work. So, I guess it wasn't personal, after all, it was just a new brand of internet stupidity.