kook

   [Usenet;  originally  and  more  formally,  net.kook]  Term  used  to
   describe  a  regular  poster  who  continually posts messages with no
   apparent  grounding  in  reality.  Different  from  a  {troll}, which
   implies  a sort of sly wink on the part of a poster who knows better,
   kooks really believe what they write, to the extent that they believe
   anything.

   The  kook  trademark  is  paranoia  and grandiosity. Kooks will often
   build  up  elaborate  imaginary support structures, fake corporations
   and  the  like,  and continue to act as if those things are real even
   after their falsity has been documented in public.

   While  they  may appear harmless, and are usually filtered out by the
   other  regular  participants in a newsgroup of mailing list, they can
   still  cause problems because the necessity for these measures is not
   immediately  apparent  to  newcomers;  there are several instances on
   record,  for example, of journalists writing stories with quotes from
   kooks who caught them unaware.

   An  entertaining  web page chronicling the activities of many notable
   kooks can be found at http://www.crank.net/usenet.html.

[glossary]
[Reference(s) to this entry by made by: {troll}]