flaming

Most of us have seen flamers. They lurk on newsgroups, mailing lists, and public electronic fora, waiting for a chance (and they find several, too) to pounce at the 'Reply All' button and spew out their skewed opinions in a manner most ill-formed and inflammatory. The result: someone else gets offended (even 'burnt') and responds (again 'To All'). Thus begins the inevitable unavoidable unpleasant flame war -- taking no prisoners. The only thing really wrong about these attacks is that they extend from the topic of discussion/debate to the people behind the debate -- It gets personal, and once that happens, toast time! Tim Bray has an interesting take on it (flame him if you disagree with anything;).