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Show HN: Using stylometry to find HN users with alternate accounts

stylometry.net

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Re: Show HN: Using stylometry to find HN users with alternate accounts

#301

Post by jallasprit »

Most likely candidates:

    pg: 1.0
    montrose: 0.604073065373204
    mattmaroon: 0.5900372458160795
    natsu: 0.5519832271289953
    rauljara: 0.5418566694533273
    waterlesscloud: 0.5378996309342633
    damoncali: 0.5292014150349463
    gruseom: 0.5290151637991445
    kemiller2002: 0.5254174524920762
    jfengel: 0.5231938496089998
    jamesaguilar: 0.5229081613163672
    houseabsolute: 0.5219738531025365
    danssig: 0.5195368367601849
    austenallred: 0.519343009683366
    loewenskind: 0.5177030083877397
    baguasquirrel: 0.5153841099708854
    asdfasgasdgasdg: 0.5146704002447524
    aptwebapps: 0.5144149629369845
    allenbrunson: 0.512802806408646
    danielweber: 0.5123620795710832

Re: Show HN: Using stylometry to find HN users with alternate accounts

#302

Post by throwawayhghcj »

I’d like to request the author takes this offline please until the implications can be thought through.

This is breaking anonymity that people incorrectly thought would not be revealed.

For some it might be awkward, others it might be quite problematic.

Re: Show HN: Using stylometry to find HN users with alternate accounts

#304

Post by [deleted] »

jallasprit wrote: post #301

Most likely candidates: pg: 1.0 montrose: 0.604073065373204 mattmaroon: 0.5900372458160795 natsu: 0.5519832271289953 rauljara: 0.5418566694533273 waterlesscloud: 0.5378996309342633 damoncali: 0.5292014150349463 gruseom: 0.5290151637991445 kemiller2002: 0.5254174524920762 jfengel: 0.5231938496089998 jamesaguilar: 0.5229081613163672 houseabsolute: 0.5219738531025365 danssig: 0.5195368367601849 austenallred: 0.519343009…

[deleted]

Re: Show HN: Using stylometry to find HN users with alternate accounts

#305

Post by ewilden »

sillysaurusx wrote: post #243
InGoodFaith wrote: post #215

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What you are describing is also known as an eggcorn. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eggcorn

Thank you! I was trying to find the original essay I learned it from. I’m now pretty sure it was by Poe, but all I can remember is the main advice: avoid common metaphors. I vaguely remember one of the metaphors in the essay was about a chicken coop melting, or something like that. It was vivid enough to leave a big impression.

I remember this being from Politics and the English Language (https://www.orwellfoundation.com/the-orwell-foundation/orwel...):

“ Dying metaphors. A newly invented metaphor assists thought by evoking a visual image, while on the other hand a metaphor which is technically ‘dead’ (e. g. iron resolution) has in effect reverted to being an ordinary word and can generally be used without loss of vividness. But in between these two classes there is a huge dump of worn-out metaphors which have lost all evocative power and are merely used because they save people the trouble of inventing phrases for themselves.”

Re: Show HN: Using stylometry to find HN users with alternate accounts

#307

Post by philosopher1234 »

the_cat_kittles wrote: post #223
philosopher1234 wrote: post #206

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We’re pretty close me and you — closer than my actual alts

hello friend! but... id never use an m dash

Well… I would never use a lowercase word after an exclamation point!

…Because I’m on mobile

Re: Show HN: Using stylometry to find HN users with alternate accounts

#308

Post by Aachen »

kcarter80 wrote: post #151
jsnell wrote: post #105

After a few tries on boring accounts, I thought to try the account of somebody who was notorious for an incident outside of HN, and had a (deservedly) bad time at HN for a couple of years before the account went dark. And yeah, there's a bunch of high confidence (.6-.8) hits for that account, and from a quick browse of the comments of the recently active ones, they look really likely to be alts. Like, all three that…

Could you elaborate on why it's obvious why you won't name the account?

They obviously don't want it to be known, seeing as they've got alts to post under and avoid going into too much detail. Being able to go out and do your own research is different than posting the information open for everyone to see at a glance.

I would say it's obvious why one might respect that wish (do unto others...), but I'm also aware that my and my culture's sense of privacy goes further than many others'.

Re: Show HN: Using stylometry to find HN users with alternate accounts

#309

Post by davebillyhock »

CharlesW wrote: post #245
davebillyhock wrote: post #205

This found an alt that I created specifically to see if I could write artificially to defeat this kind of analysis. I have seen other tools like it posted to HN, but none before had found that account. I guess I need to up my game.

If you don't mind sharing, are you "writing artificially" purely in your head, or are you using techniques like intermediate translations?

No mechanical means, but I have referred to a thesaurus occasionally. Mostly I tried to change my sentence structure, not just words. It requires actually thinking differently, in a way. Which makes it difficult to know how well I'm communicating.
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