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HN: The Good Parts (2016)

danluu.com

21–30 of 52 posts

Re: HN: The Good Parts (2016)

#21

If the Hacker News API actually returned comment scores it would be relatively easy to build an app that surfaces good comments, ahem.

If only "good" correlated with the number of upvotes :)

Yeah.. the upvote counts are probably more useful here than Reddit, but you still end up with a lot of wacky groupthink

I think Slashdot had the best voting system ever when it was still popular, but maybe that's just rose-tinted goggles

Re: HN: The Good Parts (2016)

#22
I love HN technical discussions.

I wish to god we could ban all the political/corporate/lifestyle discussions.

I say this as someone who lacks the discipline not to get sucked into them, but nevertheless regrets it when he is.

Re: HN: The Good Parts (2016)

#23

I love HN technical discussions. I wish to god we could ban all the political/corporate/lifestyle discussions. I say this as someone who lacks the discipline not to get sucked into them, but nevertheless regrets it when he is.

Technically a lot of that is is off topic, but rules are selectively enforced (via community at least)

Re: HN: The Good Parts (2016)

#24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If only "good" correlated with the number of upvotes :)

Yeah.. the upvote counts are probably more useful here than Reddit, but you still end up with a lot of wacky groupthink I think Slashdot had the best voting system ever when it was still popular, but maybe that's just rose-tinted goggles

How did Slashdot's voting system work?

Re: HN: The Good Parts (2016)

#25

I highly recommend maintaining a blocklist of usernames. There's a ton of users posting drivel on this board and you won't remember all their names. Even something as simple as a uBlock Origin static filter like this will work: !!! Asshole maintains lists of people like he's a god https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33365189 news.ycombinator.com##.default:has(.hnuser[href$="=Arnavion"]) .comment > .commtext:style(co…

I find that assholes often provide some of the most useful commentary.

A user on here who shall remain nameless is an idiot of the highest caliber in just about every topic _apart from the one she's an expert in_. If I block her then I lose all that useful commentary on that one specific topic which happens to be something I care about.

Finding out that people you despise aren't wrong about everything is one step in growing up that I'm seeing fewer and fewer people make. That your outsourcing your mental stability to a computer should be a red flag. How do you deal with people who you dislike when they get into a position you can't ignore?

Currently the choice seems to be scream at the sky/invade the capitol.

Re: HN: The Good Parts (2016)

#26
post #16

Because everything is comparative. 99.999% of Comments on the internet are pure junk. HN isn't that much different. As stated "On any topic I’m informed about, the vast majority of comments are pretty clearly wrong. " But even if HN were only 99% wrong. That 1% comments is still a 1000 times better than the average internet. And as mentioned in the article, most of the time that 1% comments are just pure Gold. For ex…

Yeah, as much as I’ll deride HN, I made the mistake of trying to talk to people on YouTube comments and Steam forums today. HN is an intellectual utopia compared to those.

Re: HN: The Good Parts (2016)

#27
post #16

Because everything is comparative. 99.999% of Comments on the internet are pure junk. HN isn't that much different. As stated "On any topic I’m informed about, the vast majority of comments are pretty clearly wrong. " But even if HN were only 99% wrong. That 1% comments is still a 1000 times better than the average internet. And as mentioned in the article, most of the time that 1% comments are just pure Gold. For ex…

Thus, by reading 1000 HN comments per day I have the chance to learn 10 useful things.

Worth every second. :)

Re: HN: The Good Parts (2016)

#29
post #13

If you find yourself writing an informative comment on HN that will likely get buried. Urge yourself to write a blog article instead.

I've posted some blog type content over the years and don't know any good way to get anybody to read it (or really even a reason why they should). Posting on HN gets way more interaction and views than most people's blogs would

Re: HN: The Good Parts (2016)

#30

I highly recommend maintaining a blocklist of usernames. There's a ton of users posting drivel on this board and you won't remember all their names. Even something as simple as a uBlock Origin static filter like this will work: !!! Asshole maintains lists of people like he's a god https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33365189 news.ycombinator.com##.default:has(.hnuser[href$="=Arnavion"]) .comment > .commtext:style(co…

I find that assholes often provide some of the most useful commentary. A user on here who shall remain nameless is an idiot of the highest caliber in just about every topic _apart from the one she's an expert in_. If I block her then I lose all that useful commentary on that one specific topic which happens to be something I care about. Finding out that people you despise aren't wrong about everything is one step in…

>If I block her then I lose all that useful commentary on that one specific topic which happens to be something I care about.

Yes, I have a few entries of that type. I have them as `color: #dddddd !important` so that they show up colored as flagged comments instead of being completely hidden.

>That your outsourcing your mental stability to a computer should be a red flag.

Absolutely. Blocking a person from your life is not a trivial decision. It dehumanizes them. You should make it only after exhausting all other options and understanding what it would feel like if it happened to you.

>How do you deal with people who you dislike when they get into a position you can't ignore?

That I have to deal with people I dislike in N situations doesn't mean I should accept that I have to deal with them in N + 1 situations.

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