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Julie Rubicon

facebook.com

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Re: Julie Rubicon

#81

Post by aab0 »

chatmasta wrote: post #3

Usually I read comments on HN before the article, but there were no comments when I saw the link, so I went straight to reading it. What a bizarre piece. How long did it take everyone else to realize it was fiction? For me, I did not realize until the very end -- and even then I still wasn't sure. It could just as well have been written by some delusional non-technical employee at Facebook.

For me it was until the sports part. User chatter has nothing to do with future victories and the bookies would have priced in anything the public knows. Then it occurred to me that this sort of thing was hugely illegal and I noticed the facebook.com URL - no way FB would be hosting some insiders blowing a whistle like that. At that point my suspicions curdled and I checked the comments.

Re: Julie Rubicon

#82

Post by 0xffff2 »

jimrandomh wrote: post #53

Post is fiction. Spoilers follow. . . When I started reading this, I didn't realize it was fiction. When I got to the point where the protagonist left the end-date off a query and saw a spike, I thought it was going to be explained by falsified data and lead into a (real) accusation of providing fraudulent metrics to advertisers. It wouldn't be the first such accusation. But it turned out to be a science-fiction stor…

If it were real, why would it be posted on Facebook itself? That was my first clue, anyway.

Still a good short read IMO.

Re: Julie Rubicon

#83

Post by dasil003 »

jimrandomh wrote: post #53

Post is fiction. Spoilers follow. . . When I started reading this, I didn't realize it was fiction. When I got to the point where the protagonist left the end-date off a query and saw a spike, I thought it was going to be explained by falsified data and lead into a (real) accusation of providing fraudulent metrics to advertisers. It wouldn't be the first such accusation. But it turned out to be a science-fiction stor…

Spoilers precede too. Much more enjoyable to start reading not knowing it is fiction. Glad I RTFA first for once :)

Re: Julie Rubicon

#85

Post by 0xffff2 »

chatmasta wrote: post #3

Usually I read comments on HN before the article, but there were no comments when I saw the link, so I went straight to reading it. What a bizarre piece. How long did it take everyone else to realize it was fiction? For me, I did not realize until the very end -- and even then I still wasn't sure. It could just as well have been written by some delusional non-technical employee at Facebook.

The first tip-off for me was that it was hosted on Facebook. If this were somehow real, there's no way it would stay up on Facebook's own servers for more than 15 minutes.

I'll also eat my shoe if there's a single person with the legal name "Julie Rubicon" in the world.

Re: Julie Rubicon

#86

Post by personjerry »

It's disturbing to me how many comments on here assert that the piece is fiction with little to no evidence. It occurs to me that perhaps Facebook is trying to make it seem like it's fiction by posting on various forums!

Re: Julie Rubicon

#87

Post by Falcon9 »

0xffff2 wrote: post #82
jimrandomh wrote: post #53

Post is fiction. Spoilers follow. . . When I started reading this, I didn't realize it was fiction. When I got to the point where the protagonist left the end-date off a query and saw a spike, I thought it was going to be explained by falsified data and lead into a (real) accusation of providing fraudulent metrics to advertisers. It wouldn't be the first such accusation. But it turned out to be a science-fiction stor…

If it were real, why would it be posted on Facebook itself? That was my first clue, anyway. Still a good short read IMO.

So that it would self-fulfill the prophecy and Julie would be safe instead of headline news for some terrible reason.

Re: Julie Rubicon

#88

Post by turar »

state wrote: post #26

Worth noting that Robin is also the author of Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore [1] that others around HN would probably find pretty enjoyable. I thought it was quite fun. 1 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr._Penumbra%27s_24-Hour_Books...

Yes, it all seems like a very creative marketing scheme.

Re: Julie Rubicon

#89

Post by Falcon9 »

Cenk wrote: post #29
state wrote: post #26

Worth noting that Robin is also the author of Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore [1] that others around HN would probably find pretty enjoyable. I thought it was quite fun. 1 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr._Penumbra%27s_24-Hour_Books...

+1 on this, a great book

I enjoyed it, though less than Ready Player One which has a similar vibe. I was amused that my Google-employed friend docked it a star for showing Google as a nerdy utopia which she did not feel began to accurately reflect the truth of the company.
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