The case of poor Aleksey Vayner is the latest example of how the Web manages to bring out everyone's inner-seventh-grader. Vayner, you see, seems to have a rather exaggerated sense of self-worth, along with a loose relationship to the truth. In an application to an investment bank, he included an absurd promotional video of himself playing tennis, lifting weights, and talking to the camera. The unwitting narcissism on display is so potent it seems like a sketch from SNL. But it isn't.

The clip was leaked to the Web, and Vayner (nee Garber) became a star, though not quite in the way he imagined. In less than a week, he has been nominated by Gawker for their "Douchebag Hall of Fame", been ridiculed by journalists as far away as Italy, and had a Wikipedia page set up for him. As Mr. T likes to say, "I pity the fool."