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Medium is a poor choice for blogging

medium.com

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Re: Medium is a poor choice for blogging

#381
post #376

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To amplify: they really do. I've got my beefs with HN moderation on occasion, but neither 'dang nor 'sctb have ever failed to respond to an email with a response, and a thoughtful one if it's a topic that needs one.

This is not correct. I have sent many which have gone unanswered. I can show them if you'd like. Dan answers if he likes you. It's as simple as that. If he doesn't, he either filters your emails and never sees them, or refuses to answer them. You are one data point. Please don't extrapolate it to those of us who have tried for months to get answers to specific questions.

You've sent us hundreds of emails using many accounts. We responded to all of them until it became obvious that it was only energizing the problem, and even then never stopped responding completely. I doubt there has ever been a case of forum moderators treating a user with greater patience. It isn't infinite though.

Since you won't stop posting abusive and misleading comments to HN, we're not going to unban you.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18412225

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18294434

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18224895

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18061577

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18054761

Re: Medium is a poor choice for blogging

#382
post #340
post #313

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is an interesting point, actually. Should publication platforms be giving us two choices: their design and implementation; or raw text (HTML) we can style ourselves?

I think it's too late to get publishers to agree on any kind of sensible conventions within the wild wild web ecosystem. It would require a massive user exodus to an entirely different application for producing, sharing, discovering, consuming and commenting on content with no scripting and leaving presentation/theming up to the user. Just a simple document-oriented markup language, e.g. maybe a subset of DocBook. Id…

Not to mention the fact that by saying, "Just give us HTML and we'll do the rest", you're taking away their ability to push adverts and track you for that juicy, monetizable(?) tracking data.

I think this is why RSS did and is dying, although it also seems to be making a comeback.

Re: Medium is a poor choice for blogging

#383
post #348
post #311

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can't use the Reader Mode in Chrome or Safari on your website? If you added that in, I would agree with you. Otherwise, it's an "OK" experience.

Hmm, just on the home page, or on actual articles? I don’t know why it wouldn't work on articles. (Edit: Actual articles are compatible with Safari’s reader mode. I don’t think you will find index pages are generally compatible, on any site)

No, you're right. I thought I had checked an article but I must not have. It is working in Safari. And it also turns out "reader mode" in Chrome isn't a think (that's on by default), which I wasn't aware of.

Cheers, Alan.

Re: Medium is a poor choice for blogging

#385

I like(d) Svbtle for both reading and writing. I'm sad it didn't catch on more.

It took me so long to find the pricing. I actually cannot find it anywhere on the site and had to give up and do a google search. There is no reason for that. Why would anyone sign up without knowing the pricing?

This is a good point. But that aside, I like that it's a simple platform for reading/writing. Its drawback, I suppose, is content/topic discovery.

Re: Medium is a poor choice for blogging

#386
post #381
post #376

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is not correct. I have sent many which have gone unanswered. I can show them if you'd like. Dan answers if he likes you. It's as simple as that. If he doesn't, he either filters your emails and never sees them, or refuses to answer them. You are one data point. Please don't extrapolate it to those of us who have tried for months to get answers to specific questions.

You've sent us hundreds of emails using many accounts. We responded to all of them until it became obvious that it was only energizing the problem, and even then never stopped responding completely. I doubt there has ever been a case of forum moderators treating a user with greater patience. It isn't infinite though. Since you won't stop posting abusive and misleading comments to HN, we're not going to unban you. htt…

You've sent us hundreds of emails using many accounts. We responded to all of them until it became obvious that it was only energizing the problem, and even then never stopped responding completely.

This is simply not true. I haven't sent you "hundreds of emails", nor have I sent them from "many accounts" except when the conversation was related to those accounts.

Here is one of the most recent emails I sent you, which got no reply:

===

Hello,

Hellbanned users can’t submit any stories if they’ve made any comments in the last 3 hours.

Here’s a patch to fix that:

(def oversubmitting (user ip kind (o url)) (and enforce-oversubmit* (or (check-key user 'toofast) (ignored user) () ()) - (len> (recent-items [or (author user _) (is _!ip ip)] 180) + (len> (keep [is _!type kind] + (recent-items [or (author user _) (is _!ip ip)] 180)) (if (is kind 'story) (if (bad-user user) 0 1) (if (bad-user user) 1 10)))))

I was hoping you’d apply this, so that I can submit stories even if I’ve made a comment.

===

Here's another:

Dan,

I would like to try, once more, to make an offer of peace and to see eye to eye.

I am willing to write solely about programming topics on HN. I believe this is what you meant by “use the site for its intended purpose.”

What I'm experiencing now, you’ll do to others. I would not have believed this if I didn’t see it with my own eyes.

HN may be an entertainment site, but it was the only place in the world that I could find like-minded people to talk openly with. It's as dear to me as your childhood home is to you. And if you’re going to wipe someone’s 11-year presence and continue to falsely claim that I can still participate on the site, then there is little choice other than to write about this for whoever will listen. After all, it is the only option left.

Please note that I respect your opinion greatly. The entire community looks to you for guidance. At one time, so did I. My first interaction with you was when I was going through a distressing period in my life, and I randomly sent an email to hn@ycombinator.com. You returned the email with a wonderful reply that gave me hope for the future.

I have no idea what happened between then and now. I have done what little I could to assist, where possible. I don’t want to cause problems. But if you’re going to go full Game of Thrones on me and continue to claim you’ve explained why – and that it’s not personal, which it clearly seems to be – then what else is there to say? You seem intent on escalating this for reasons I simply do not understand. Your 3-month ban was swift, harsh, and arbitrary.

I would like to de-escalate and meet in the middle. Would you?

Shawn

====

No reply.

These are not cherry-picked examples.

The entire reason you applied a penalty in the first place was because I talked in a way that you personally disagreed with about a politically-charged topic. Yet my comment wasn't charged: I was merely stating an opinion. An opinion that you personally did not like. And so you applied a rate limit, once again, which I've had to deal with for nearly a year of my life.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18012416

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18054259

You are coming very close to straight up lying in this thread. I suggest you not do that.

Re: Medium is a poor choice for blogging

#387
post #381
post #376

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is not correct. I have sent many which have gone unanswered. I can show them if you'd like. Dan answers if he likes you. It's as simple as that. If he doesn't, he either filters your emails and never sees them, or refuses to answer them. You are one data point. Please don't extrapolate it to those of us who have tried for months to get answers to specific questions.

You've sent us hundreds of emails using many accounts. We responded to all of them until it became obvious that it was only energizing the problem, and even then never stopped responding completely. I doubt there has ever been a case of forum moderators treating a user with greater patience. It isn't infinite though. Since you won't stop posting abusive and misleading comments to HN, we're not going to unban you. htt…

Since it's impossible to edit my comment once I post it, here's that Arc patch:

   (def oversubmitting (user ip kind (o url))
     (and enforce-oversubmit*
          (or (check-key user 'toofast)
              (ignored user)
              ( (recent-items [or (author user _) (is _!ip ip)] 180)
  +       (len> (keep [is _!type kind]
  +                   (recent-items [or (author user _) (is _!ip ip)] 180))
                (if (is kind 'story)
                    (if (bad-user user) 0 1)
                    (if (bad-user user) 1 10)))))
Now, how are you going to frame this as harassment? Why is this email trying your patience? Why is it a bad thing for me to send you this?

You keep accusing me of being misleading. Yet you won't aim that criticism at yourself.

You have publicly called me a liar and said that I have been harassing you, when I have made it clear this was an intentional decision in order to protest your moderation policies, which have been increasingly political. Do not frame this as if I have done you harm; I haven't. Stop saying that flaws in my personality are why I am not allowed to participate on this forum. And above all, stop acting like a coward and twisting words to fit your own personal desires.

I have been on Hacker News six months longer than you have – a total of 12 years – and if you want to ban me, you'll have to do better than say I haven't been following the rules. I have, and I love this forum. I have met many lifelong friends here. I have tried to talk to you about the "probation" you applied, and you have completely refused to respond. Do not pretend like you have done well here, or that you have treated me with patience.

Re: Medium is a poor choice for blogging

#388
post #150

Most of the popular online services have screwed up their interface. I think it started with Digg. It was once a loved website. The screwed up the interface and everyone ran to Reddit. Now Reddit has screwed up their interface too. We all used to love Google for its simple and elegant web interfaces. Look at what a mess GMail is now. If there is anything that more than 10 years of Web 2.0 teaches us, it is that once…

> Now Reddit has screwed up their interface too. At least Reddit has alternatives (for now), e.g. dm.reddit.com ; old.reddit.com

For now, indeed. Not sure what I'm going to do when they go away, I dislike the new interface so much that I don't think I'll use the site anymore

Re: Medium is a poor choice for blogging

#389

Nice, everyone is posting their favourite CMS, again. I use https://getgrav.org because I like flat-file CMS. Maybe there are some photographers here: http://koken.me (CMS for photographers). Another idea: Use a static page generator and Amazon's S3 with this neat blackhat trick - https://www.blackhatworld.com/seo/how-one-website-exploited-... (mildly joking). OT: I pay 0.19$/month for my blog hosting including domai…

What's your blog? I'm interested in reaching out, can you include your email in your profile? Thanks.

Re: Medium is a poor choice for blogging

#390
post #218
post #198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is the limit for free reading? I've heard this a few times now from a few different sources, but I've never run into it myself.

Three or four articles a day, I can't remember. Not very high if you browse, but adequate if you get a link or two from other sources. I wish they adopted the bandcamp model: quite a number of tracks for free per day, but you can instantly pay for the one you liked, the amount you like (above a certain minimum). This way, the articles I personally find valuable would be both easier for me to find, and paid by me high…

Fairly late, but I must read eight or more Medium articles on a heavy day. The only thing I ever get is a modal prompting me to "make it official" and create an account.
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