Does this look familiar to anyone? • Hacker News Board

Re: Does this look familiar to anyone?

#51

Post by antoineg » Wed, Apr 16, 2008, 6:19 PM UTC

webwright wrote: post #48

antoineg wrote: post #43

Chris has responded to this issue on his blog: http://crashdev.blogspot.com/2008/04/sincere-apologies-to-pa... . Those of you throwing around uninformed, flaming commentary would benefit from a quick read followed by a few deep breaths.

He uses the phrase "modeled after", which is pretty light. They lifted most questions verbatim, removed the references to boston and News.YC (usernames, etc), and shuffled order on a question or two. I'm a little iffy on whether I feel this is terribly unethical-- an application is not really a creative work. I do think it shows a lack of creativity! I can think of 2 or 3 questions that I'd add/adjust if I was spinni…

I agree it was a lapse in judgement - both the lifting and the lack of attribution. However, in the grand scheme of things it's not that huge a deal, and the important thing for me is that he is correcting the problem right away as soon as possible after being informed of the criticism.

Re: Does this look familiar to anyone?

#52

Post by mwerty » Wed, Apr 16, 2008, 7:53 PM UTC

wheels wrote: post #24

wright wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not about copying the idea. It's about making yourself look like a total asshat by copying someone else's writing verbatim and passing it off as your own. > which I'm sure they'd rectify if asked, "If you have to ask..." > then they'll, like most ventures, find ways to differentiate themselves and do their thing or die. There's a YC copycat in India that differentiates itself by posting armed guards to keep you…

> It's about making yourself look like a total asshat by copying someone else's writing verbatim and passing it off as your own. There's a famous line by Igor Stravinsky. "Good composers borrow. Great composers steal." If you're working on something, and you see someone else that's got part of it righ, by all means copy them! I don't mean plagiarize them, but emulate what they're doing and figure out the parts that y…

>"Good composers borrow. Great composers steal."

Interestingly, he probably stole that quote from T.S Eliot: "Immature poets imitate; mature poets steal"

Re: Does this look familiar to anyone?

#53

Post by wright » Wed, Apr 16, 2008, 8:30 PM UTC

allenbrunson wrote: post #42

wright wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not about copying the idea. It's about making yourself look like a total asshat by copying someone else's writing verbatim and passing it off as your own. > which I'm sure they'd rectify if asked, "If you have to ask..." > then they'll, like most ventures, find ways to differentiate themselves and do their thing or die. There's a YC copycat in India that differentiates itself by posting armed guards to keep you…

the site has since been amended to indicate that it was a joke. http://www.ciieindia.org/?page_id=93 "We don't want you to go to your accommodation before 12 midnight - so we provide you mattresses near your workspace for resting. There's anyways a security guard outside your work-area - so you don't get to leave the office before 12 midnight and you don't get to sleep in the office. Attendance happens at 9:30 am eve…

> who fail to understand the humor in the above para may not kindly apply.

I don't know why writing about establishing some kind of sweatshop in a poverty-stricken country would be seen as funny. There are a lot of places that have conditions like that, no joke.

Re: Does this look familiar to anyone?

#54

Post by wright » Wed, Apr 16, 2008, 8:31 PM UTC

mwerty wrote: post #52

wheels wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It's about making yourself look like a total asshat by copying someone else's writing verbatim and passing it off as your own. There's a famous line by Igor Stravinsky. "Good composers borrow. Great composers steal." If you're working on something, and you see someone else that's got part of it righ, by all means copy them! I don't mean plagiarize them, but emulate what they're doing and figure out the parts that y…

>"Good composers borrow. Great composers steal." Interestingly, he probably stole that quote from T.S Eliot: "Immature poets imitate; mature poets steal"

It was Picasso and artists.

Re: Does this look familiar to anyone?

#55

Post by wright » Wed, Apr 16, 2008, 8:33 PM UTC

wheels wrote: post #24

wright wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not about copying the idea. It's about making yourself look like a total asshat by copying someone else's writing verbatim and passing it off as your own. > which I'm sure they'd rectify if asked, "If you have to ask..." > then they'll, like most ventures, find ways to differentiate themselves and do their thing or die. There's a YC copycat in India that differentiates itself by posting armed guards to keep you…

> It's about making yourself look like a total asshat by copying someone else's writing verbatim and passing it off as your own. There's a famous line by Igor Stravinsky. "Good composers borrow. Great composers steal." If you're working on something, and you see someone else that's got part of it righ, by all means copy them! I don't mean plagiarize them, but emulate what they're doing and figure out the parts that y…

> I don't mean plagiarize them, but emulate what they're doing and figure out the parts that you're good at.

They DID plagiarize. Nobody's objecting to other seed investors, just the plagiarizing.

What they SHOULD have done is asked YC for permission to use their application, then said "we are using YC's application with their agreement in order to make things easier for applicants".