Mewling Infant Takes Internet Death Threat Seriously, Cancels Public Appearance, Inevitable Flame War Erupts

Oh boy.

So today the New York Times reported on a new blogger code of ethics written by Tim O'Reilly and Jimmy Wales. They constructed the code of ethics partially in response to death threats sent to Kathy Sierra by the usual lineup of angry, overweight internet yahoos that shoot their mouths off and go to wild dialectic lengths including, but not limited to, saying things like 'shitcock.'

Never mind that this sort of rude behavior is not new (or news.) What makes it news is that this poor widdle baybee got a boo-boo on the parts of her brain that worry about aforementioned internet yahoos chopping her to bits.

I guess she didn't consider how easy it would be to outrun the kind of lumbering, 400lb man-strosity that has the time or desire to pick fights on the interweb. And that's if, and only if, the bearded land whale in question had the energy to get out of his computer chair or if his mom would let him borrow the money to fly out to wherever Ms. Sierra was.

From her blog:
"I have cancelled all speaking engagements.

I am afraid to leave my yard.

I will never feel the same. I will never be the same. "

She got so scared that the bad, mean internet man was going to commit murder in response to some blog entries she wrote that she actually cancelled all her public speaking appearances, demonstrating both a wild overestimation of the value of her life to even the craziest of internerds and a lack of understanding of the internet so staggering as to disqualify her from blogging permanently.

Which, apparently, kind of works out for her:
"I do not want to be part of a culture--the Blogosphere--where this is considered acceptable."

Unfortunately for Ms. Sierra, acting and talking like an idiot isn't exclusive to the internet or the parts of it often referred to as 'the Blogosphere'. So she might have a long way to run until she finally feels safe. Somewhere in northern Canada on a Safe Haven For Feelings commune, perhaps?

Anyway, I don't condone abusive speech or photoshopping (apparently there were some internet classics she posted on her site, but they're gone now), but I absolutely believe in the right to scream 'shitcock' in a crowded intertube.