Am I trolling? I don't think so, insofar as I use a provocative example to illustrate trends that I do think are important: the coming of age of New York as a startup hub and as a "school" for building consumer startups, and the growing importance of design vs. "hard" technology in building a successful consumer web app.
In order to avoid being mistaken for trolling in the future, you might consider:
+ Cutting down on the curses, particular in titles.
+ Avoid personalizing any conflict. Your favorite sports team or the hated cross-town rival "eats dust", case studies on the other hand calmly discuss math.
+ Ratchet the sarcasm down seven notches. Eight if you're talking to people who know the people you're being sarcastic about.
+ Avoid interjections like "(ugh)" unless they are being used in a self-deprecating fashion.
Believe it or not, you can take this advice and still sound passionate, intelligent, engaging, and perhaps even hip, if you're into that sort of thing.
Here's UrbanDictionary's definition of "troll":
> One who posts a deliberately provocative message to a newsgroup or message board with the intention of causing maximum disruption and argument
It's hard to be disruptive on your own blog, but you can see how if you fit the first half of the definition, you might be mistaken for the whole definition.
I personally don't think that you're being a troll, as there's nobody to really upset or disrupt. Maybe the Posterous devs aren't going to like you anymore? But it does come across as a little linkbait-y. I agree with my sibling comment's advice on how to rectify this in the future.
So because of this piece, I'm following your blog. Please continue to rock.
