What I see: The student is either a troll or a detail-oriented, quick-to-anger idiot. The student's first email is fairly polite and could result just from a la

What I see: The student is either a troll or a detail-oriented, quick-to-anger idiot. The student's first email is fairly polite and could result just from a lack of internet search skills. But in the student's second email, the tone completely changes--the student is deliberately attacking Stross and trying to provoke him. Starting with the student's second email, I believe that the student is not looking for a calm, thoughtful response from Stross anymore; the student just wants Stross to admit that he is in the wrong.