John Kwok

John Kwok is an unhinged professional troll who frequents sites he does not like and complains about their content non-stop. He follows prominent scientists and educators who have refuted creationist and intelligent design proponents' arguments, mostly to post complaints about what they blog. He causes problems at most places where he has accounts, sometimes even threatening people if they dare try to keep him from posting.
If you pay John Kwok any attention, he becomes very clingy and demands more of your time. And the more time of yours he gets, the more vengeful he will become when you eventually block him. If you find this troll on your site, it's best to remove him quickly, before he becomes too creepy.
Among his tactics are what fellow Stuyvesant alumni have termed "Kwok and awe" where he namedrops: a) his high school alma mater from decades ago, Stuyvesant High School in NYC, b) his favorite teacher from there, author Frank McCourt (who died rather than allow his name to be mentioned anymore by Kwok in his presence), and c) his nemeses. In addition, he is a known extorter, having tried on any number of occasions to upgrade his camera equipment for free in exchange for his silence (see example below under PZ Myers).
He has also sparked any number of puns on his name. In addition to the aforementioned "Kwok and awe," one will find internet references to the verbification of his name: to-wit, to Kwok. This means, variously, to fuck up, to annoy, to derail a thread on a niggling point, to call names but to take offense when trolled back in a similar fashion.
==Famous targets==
John Kwok targets popular internet bloggers and rational thinkers. Here are some of his targets:
===PZ Myers===
PZ Myers is a prominent educator and scientist who hosts a blog on ScienceBlogs called Pharyngula. In March 2009, John Kwok became the subject of a parody game show on the blog called "Survivor Pharyngula," where problematic commenters were listed and other commenters voted to see who would be banned from posting ever again.
In the first round of voting, John Kwok did not get as many votes as the troll who earned the first ban of the game show. However, as with the game show, there was a chance to earn immunity through a simple question. The immunity challenge was:
John Kwok's rise to the challenge was:http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2009/03/survivor_pharyngula_day_one.php#comment-1474664
John Kwok then reposted his immunity challenge, more condensed this time, and ended it with a veiled threat:http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2009/03/survivor_pharyngula_day_one.php#comment-1473866
Shortly after the comment was made there was a huge upswing in the Kwok vote.
On "Day Three," John Kwok again found his name on a short list of potential victims to the banhammer. The new immunity challenge was:
This time, John Kwok came out with guns blazing:
Then proceeded to stick his foot farther into his mouth by continuing:
Surprisingly, John Kwok did not earn the most votes to be banned. Dr. Myers instead made a special call:
Being banned from the Pharyngula blog did not stop John Kwok from harassing Dr. Myers. He took his mission to email, now that he could not make his consternation public for all to enjoy:
Followed by:
Dr. Myers made a comical post soon after, parodying his grief with John Kwok as Kirk versus Khan.
Nearly a week after the last posting about John Kwok, Dr. Myers updates his followers on what has transpired in that time frame. John Kwok was busy emailing people about how he was being stalked. In emails to several of Dr. Myers' colleagues, John Kwok wrote:
And to Dr. Myers personally:
Plus, after seeing the posting of his emails, John Kwok quickly ups the ante:
Kwok has since said he was joking about demanding a camera. However, in July 2010 he wrote:
===Abbie Smith===
Abbie Smith, AKA ERV, posted a blog entry about William Dembski's new book. John Kwok weighed in with what he deemed as important information:
Another commenter quickly points out the obvious:
Which sets off John Kwok:
John Kwok got so annoying to ERV that she eventually outright banned him from her blog. When a user brings up John Kwok's postshttp://scienceblogs.com/evolutionblog/2009/01/the_trouble_with_science_journ.php#comment-1341939http://scienceblogs.com/evolutionblog/2009/01/the_trouble_with_science_journ.php#comment-1349013http://scienceblogs.com/evolutionblog/2009/01/the_trouble_with_science_journ.php#comment-1349070http://scienceblogs.com/evolutionblog/2009/01/the_trouble_with_science_journ.php#comment-1349610http://scienceblogs.com/evolutionblog/2009/01/the_trouble_with_science_journ.php#comment-1349760http://scienceblogs.com/evolutionblog/2009/01/the_trouble_with_science_journ.php#comment-1350574http://scienceblogs.com/evolutionblog/2009/01/the_trouble_with_science_journ.php#comment-1351003 at another blog about ERV, she simply responds:
Shortly before Kwok was banned from Pharyngula commenters there brought up the issue of him stalking Abbie Smith. John Kwok responded:
===Chris Mooney and Sheril Kirshenbaum===
Chris Mooney and Sheril Kirshenbaum run The Intersection, a blog that examines how culture and science interact. It also serves as a refuge for people who were banned from Pharyngula and want somewhere to whine about it. Kwok joined them after being plonked. Although he frequently agreed with the hosts, he often got himself into trouble. For instance, he once referred to a female commenter as a "bitch" and implied she had PMS (the comment was later deleted).http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/intersection/2009/07/08/pz-myers-review-of-ua/comment-page-3/#comment-23263http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/intersection/2009/07/08/pz-myers-review-of-ua/comment-page-3/#comment-23284
Eventually, Mooney and Kirshenbaum had enough:
==See also==
*List of internet kooks
==External links==
John Kwok can be found at the following locations:
*Panda's Thumb
==References==
Category:Internet kooks
Category:Living people
Category:Trolls