Trolls I have known

it occurred to me we haven't seen a troll on the blog for some time. I think this reflects the decreasing prominence of blogs: the trolling goes on elsewhere. The optimists amongst you might interpret it as demonstrating increasingly civilised behaviour on the Internet but somehow I doubt that. Anyway, I thought it might be fun to revisit some of the trolls of the past on the IT Skeptic blog.

Trolls are not very bright. And some are commercially motivated

Submitted by Liza (not verified) on Thu, 2009-03-19 23:36.
A new ITIL V3 online publications offering changes the game
This product is sold as an audio book and I have a visual impairment. I thought that this would be a good product for me but the trial is worse than useless and appears to be a very basic PDF with a bolt on Audio reader. The woman voice over is extremely annoying and it skips the figures and diagrams - that was obviously too difficult. Therefore this product is useless. I am suprised that the British Government who have their own accessiility standards could support something of this nature that is clearly not accessible and not up to standard!

Submitted by skeptic on Fri, 2009-03-20 13:10.
Lisa is a troll
The reader is an automated voice synthesizer, that's why I referred to it as a "standard' voice. Presumably the cost would be a lot less competitive if someone manually read all the books. I'm struggling to understand how one "reads" a diagram. Since the TSO online sunscription provides no voice at all I'd see this as a step forwards for the visually impaired.

BTW Lisa, I know where you work. You really shouldn't indulge in this kind of trolling using your office machine.

Some trolls appear to have got on the turps:

Submitted by Visitor (not verified) on Sat, 2009-08-08 09:31.
Jayzus James...
... look at your cocky attitude again. Why do you insist on classifying people and putting them below you, and assuming you know what they believe they can achieve? Christ they're probably bored from your droning on about ITIL and tickets and best practises and CMDBs and how it's all IT's fault. Listen - they've sussed you when u walked in the door, they stayed polite for a few minutes then went to email, IM, twitter, facebook, youtube, google or whatever to get on with what waqs important to them. If you're dealing with managers who do this, then what does it tell you? Are they good managers because of this or bad managers? Did you ask them WHY THEY DO IT? Smack them James. Personally, I'd invite them to leave if they didn't want to be there, or for those who stayed and continued to mickey about, fcuk them out of the room.

Submitted by skeptic on Sat, 2009-08-08 09:51.
failed
Just back from the pub when you posted this? You start off calling him cocky and end up throwing people out of your course. If people don't learn it is you as an instructior who has failed. Chucking them out is intellectual laziness and teaching ineptitude. the only valid reason to throw someone out of training is if their disruption is overly impacting other students, not you, and even then you ought to address how you can get them back in. if you are a professional instructor you are there to do the job of teaching all the students.

Given the pther posts from the same address, I'd say we have a troll, and a poor one at that. I'm removing some of the others which are evn less coherent (must have opened the scotch once he got home from the pub)

Incidentally I'd normally remove ad hominem attacks but I know James is enough of a gentleman not to care what you think

Submitted by Visitor (not verified) on Sat, 2009-08-08 10:49.
Fanny I failed
Don't like my opinion, so you censor it. I don't like your attitude today, and find you illogical. You open a site to comment and then get cranky when someone comments? Is that an ITIL catch all? So when you don't get your way you probably categorise... then judge... right.... like I'm now a 'troll'. Typical. See that box you're in? People are thinking outside.

Submitted by skeptic on Sat, 2009-08-08 11:21.
pointless tirades
It's not your opinions I censor, it is only pointless tirades or ad hominem attacks or libel. OK I put your two removed comments back so people can see you for what you are.

You're new to the site and you won't last long. You have nothing to say but bitter outbursts. You think you are some advanced business thinker but your insight is not yet apparent.

And if you are going to accuse others of "classifying people and putting them below you" please don't refer to me as "boyo" and tell me "I'd eat you for breakfast without a doubt"

please move on so we can resume intelligent discussion

Submitted by DavidM on Sun, 2009-08-09 17:28.
OK, read, still think they deserve to be pulled
The subject says it all.

Perhaps the only thing to do is modify the posting page to suggest that messages that contain personal attacks, name calling, and libelous or slanderous content, etc., will be pulled.

Up to you.

David

Submitted by skeptic on Sun, 2009-08-09 17:50.
perhaps
Libel and personal attacks will be pulled. But "personal" is a subjective assessment (so too is libel). I implied he was drunk, irrational, unprofessional and devoid of original ideas so perhaps I should pulll my own posts too? This is a public place, and stupid behaviour is tolerated in most public places up to some limit. Ooops I think I just implied he's stupid too...

I'd rather leave it there and let readers judge. I know how 95% of them will see it

I touched a nerve when I called out the old-boys club in itSMF. Once again not a true troll so much as just an anonymous stuffed shirt

Submitted by Visitor (not verified) on Sat, 2008-07-12 07:54.
Shabby Speculation
I'm sure all of this is in your head Skep. Paranoia is a chillingly frightening thing. Ask anyone, they'll tell you!

So dissapointed in your stance here - you kick the establishment but make a fortune out of selling its books through your links with Amazon and you continue to massage your own isolated ego with this ill-informed and frankly shabby speculation.

Shame on you!

Submitted by skeptic on Sat, 2008-07-12 09:57.
if you are going to troll
Nice try, but if you are going to troll you should have facts at hand.

I've discussed my income from this blog in the past. Last month I made US$20.63 on Amazon.

I only kick the establishment when it needs it. The establishment's total disinterest in what the ITIL community thinks is what created the vacuum this blog filled.

Last month this blog was read either 12,000 22,0000 or 40,000 times depending on what stats you use, so an awful lot of people find this site useful or at least interesting.

Any reasonable person reading those requirements for someone to actually be allowed to address the little impressionable heads of the middle-aged IT professionals in the CLC would see them as restrictive.[moderated]

If I massage my ego with this blog then that is merely a pleasant side-effect.

it got a bit rough-and-tumble at times. E.g. I got called a monkey :)

Submitted by About Time (not verified) on Fri, 2007-05-11 06:21.
ITSKEPTIC AS A MONKEY
How appropriate that this mal-adjusted and inappropriate event was cancelled. With self proclaimed ITIL "profits" and "Phophets of Doom" on the agenda the event is well deserved at the bottom of the ocean - RIP! May the Boston conference and all those who planned to sail never surface again.

Or more seriously, there was "SpamWatcher", probably the most trollish troll of them all on the blog. You can follow that dismal thread here if you wish. Nothing funny: he was just a pain in the butt. I never found out who it was.

Sometimes I'm sympathetic:

Submitted by Visitor (not verified) on Fri, 2010-09-10 04:09.
ITIL. The most pointless
ITIL.

The most pointless load of management gibberish know to man.

What a waste of 3 days I'll never get back.

Now to do my best to forget everything about those 3 days.

Submitted by Another Visitor (not verified) on Fri, 2010-09-10 23:53.
by posting about it on here?
by posting about it on here? That should help you forget it faster.

Fail troll is has failed.

Submitted by skeptic on Sat, 2010-09-11 09:39.
IT trainers suck
a troll or just venting?

I think it might reflect on the standard of some of the trainers. Too many IT trainers suck. Subject matter knowledge alone does not make a good teacher (though of course it is one component)

Some call themselves troll

Submitted by Philippe (not verified) on Thu, 2009-12-10 01:11.
Actually there are mentions
Actually there are mentions of data schemes in the books. See for example Service Operation, page 50, 4.2.5.3. Even in some detail : see page 66, 4.4.7.2, Note in the second column.

But it's really risky to give a more detailed list of tables, and fields. You may contradict yourself or even start endless discussions with techies on subjects you don't really control. No one wants to start discussing with techies, they are sometimes right.

When you're an ITIL consultant, it's so much easier (and cost efficient) to spend time chatting with upper management than trying to build something that really works. Let that to the lower class.

Philippe, member of RSPCSV and Che Guevara of ITIL

PS : this could probably be called a "troll" based on the fact that most people who comment on this blog are ITIL consultants. Don't hesitate to cut if you find my comments inappropriate.

Submitted by skeptic on Thu, 2009-12-10 05:55.
inappropriate
I find them inappropriate but not as inappropriate as mine

Aale called himself a troll once, but that may be more about physique than attitude :)

Submitted by aroos on Thu, 2011-03-17 22:27.
Do mock exams
Dear Curious
I want to add one more piece of advice to the excellent guidance of The Wizard.

The trick is to get hands on those mock exams which actually contain real exam questions. Some training companies (who have access to real questions) use them in the training classes.

Remember that the Certificate has nothing to do with IT service management, it is about your career and salary so just concentrate on learning those answers. But hurry, the 3.1 versions will change questions and right answers and that may be confusing.

The ITIL Troll

This wasn't really a troll but I called him one:

Submitted by John (not verified) on Thu, 2010-09-30 19:55.
ITIL is good Practice
Guys,

Remember this for the rest of your life,
ITIL is not best practice but good practice only.
For IT service management, the best practice is ISO/IEC 20000.
Hope this is clear now

cheers
Jc

Submitted by skeptic on Thu, 2010-09-30 21:41.
troll
clearly trolling. Anyone who suggests ISO20000 is in some way superior (or inferior) to ITIL is clearly picking a fight.
And anyone who suggest ISO20000 is in any way "best" is throwing beer in a bar.

For seven years of blogging, there have been very few really good trolls. Perhaps the biggest troll of them all is much closer to home.