otb,

Yes, but Graham has no intention of following us around cleaning up after us and smacking our bottoms.

Some people (not mentioning any names) display trolling behaviour - that's usually why they're referred to as trolls.

><many forums now prohibit labelling other posters directly or indirectly as 'trolls'. It is regarded as serious abuse.><

Whereas trolling is prohibited by common decency. It is regarded as a serious abuse: we have this wonderful technology at our fingertips to send our ideas shooting off across the world in the blink of an eye and the best ideas some people can come up with are those that demean and belittle other people. What can you do but shake your head?

I feel sorry for trolls. If you read between the lines of their spitefulness you see the words of man in pain: 'want me', 'need me', 'pay attention to me', 'help me'.

I want to but you can't help anybody that isn't willing to help themselves. While they're lashing out in rage and frustration there isn't much to do but stand clear. When they have calmed you can give them the attention they keen for. In time they may learn that you can catch more flies with honey than vinegar.

The preceding lament for trolls applies quite a lot of the time I suspect. But some trolls are just jerks and there is nothing you can do about them.

Whether they be lonely trolls seeking attention or jerk trolls the best treatment is not to feed them: it strengthens jerks trolls and it conditions lonely trolls in the wrong way. A lonely troll who gets fed too much - especially after midnight - can turn into a jerk troll and you can't fix them after that.

Trolls feed on attention: when you sense a troll in your midst try to give it a wide berth. If it engages you personally remain silent and avoid any form of retaliation. I know it can be hard but in this case you need to do what Jesus would do and turn the other cheek. When a troll gets hungry enough it will eventually crawl away and seek sustenance on another forum.

And if you don't want to be called a troll... don't behave like a troll. It's not quantum electrodynamics.

Cheers,

Tony

.

Dear Graham,

.

The possibility to use bold, italics and underlyning would be useful.

Also, I would welcome the possibilty to be able to change my pseudo if I so desire. Naturally, all the archives of previous posts should be maintained and linked-up historically, indicating under which pseudo they were posted. Everybody should be able to check back to see the previous pseudos of anybody posting on OLO.

I wanted to do this some years ago when I found people were being confused by mu pseodo, "Banjo Paterson", and somebody else who had the pseudo of "Banjo". At the time, I was told it was not possible.

Could it be made possible with the new specs, please ?

.

actually..that..letter..cross-out feature

where the words appear..[but with a line..through them.]
like they were edited out,,because they..were wrongly used..or not relevant..to the reply

also i recall..that changing formatting..
occasionally..changes...the posted info..
thus 'archived-info''..on occasion..become illegible..and newer posts confounded...by different formatting paging..[one might find..say..the the ads dont work[unlikely]..but i..thought worth remembering

thus i would prefer keeping what we got
even tweaks..can..introduce..change..plus the risk..viral [virus] induced changes..

and confusion..as to patent property rights..[in part]..maybe in part..or whole..owned/claimable..by the program writers..owning/holding/contrloing..the codes

OTB thanks, in a way your post aimed at me proves my point not yours.
We are earning our own reputations and it has always been so.
I found few true trolls and only a few true troublemakers in my time here.
That started in 2005, we did have fools and sock puppets but by and large we are relatively clean, TL has said words you should read and value.
OUG I see nothing to fear in any change so do not fear it.
If we now and again return to long ago threads *the car park* one and two, you can see SOME come to assert them selves and too stand for no opposition to their own views.

No one wants to talk about funding but it remains hanging in the air, not all the best things in life are free.

I recommend OLO introduce a yearly awards program something akin to a mini-Oscars/Academy Awards (ok a mini-mini-mini Oscars!)

At first glance it might seem all too cumbersome or time-consuming for OLO staff to administer-- but it could be automated as a additional voting coupon at the bottom of each post.

I am sure the brains trust at/on OLO can come up with some great titles.But here's a few for starters:
i) The wittiest post/poster of the year.
2) The biggest baddest cherry pick of the year (a fitting name for this one might be 'the Poirot' award)
3) The most informative post/poster of the year (this might be named 'the SPQR' award)
and so on and so on...

We might even have a tally board ala the AFL or ARL Brownlow/Daly M medal comp!

It could potentiality add a whole new fun dimension, perhaps give OLO an edge on those other, lesser forums...attract media interest ...I could well envisage the leader board/winners --ala the X Factor finalists --being invited onto breakfast time TV!