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How would I get started?

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Re: How would I get started?

#111

Post by polyfractal »

belbn wrote: post #109
marcamillion wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not sure who in the heck downvoted this, but I proposed a simple solution for the community that would help us explore these types of topics on each post. Called - "Proposal: HWIGS HN: How would I get started". You can find it in the New section - http://news.ycombinator.com/newest Edit 1: For whatever reason, this comment seems to be a battleground. Been upvoted & downvoted so many times. Guess this comment symboliz…

I was under the impression you aren't able to downvote on this site. In the same way this site is Reddit except the fact you can't react negatively to anything (downvote), we now need to do the same for comments. You either upvote or you do nothing. You either comment positively or you don't comment. Excellent job patio.

You can downvote comments, assuming you have enough karma (100? 500? something like that). You can't downvote stories themselves, however.

Re: How would I get started?

#112

Post by Mz »

napoleond wrote: post #108
patio11 wrote: post #98

Imagine, as a thought experiment, that HN declared a do-over and took another stab at answering the question. What, specifically , do you want in the new thread that was not present in the old thread, and what do you not want in the new thread that was present in the old thread? Some potential options: a) Keep all the facts. Remove conclusory statements which suggest that this is a bad idea. b) Remove the discouragin…

Patrick, this is condescending. I doubt you meant for it to come across that way, but that's how I read it. Most of the posts in the original thread could have conveyed the exact same information in a less dismissive, discouraging, and sometimes even hostile tone--it would have made them more valuable to our community.

You are right: It is condescending, and I downvoted it for that reason which has no doubt been cancelled out by like a hundred upvotes just because it is Patrick.

But, gee, how many other people get called by their first name instead of their handle? "Thomas" comes to mind, but I imagine it is a rather small club. Patrick is fairly introverted and gets super nervous when giving public speeches, even though he has experience doing so. On a much smaller scale, I have been in the kind of position he is in here on HN. I read his remark here as an attempt by someone with a lot of social pull and responsibility here but limited social savvy to affirm the good qualities of a forum he is very personally invested in. Yes, he did it less than smoothly. But his condescension is very likely a defense mechanism, knowing he is a big target and is very likely to be attacked. It is kind of him flinching, knowing it is coming and trying to steel himself for it.

I don't know what the solution is, either for HN or Patrick. But I do know how uncomfortable it is to be called out by my given name in public when most other people are hiding behind some anonymous handle or otherwise lower profile. I know how awful it feels to be delivered what amounts to a personal attack so very personally, by name, from semi-anonymous crowds. I don't think putting Patrick on the hot seat like that helps HN at all. In fact, it likely makes things worse.

One of the problems with HN is that it is a forum aimed at a largely socially awkward crowd. Most people who have the technical expertise to become influential here will be poorly equipped to perform crowd control duties, even though they essentially take that on as a de facto duty, like it or not. When they attempt to live up to that duty, it might help to cut them some slack and try to see the good intentions behind their sometimes mediocre execution.

I wish the leaderboard had 160 names on it. It is the top 150-ish people who have some hope of "fixing" the loss of quality that is so frequently lamented here. I don't know exactly how to do that on such a large scale, but I have a few clues about how to proceed. And trying to meet people like Patrick halfway is part of it.

(I apologize for how rambling this is. As is often the case, I seem to be running a fever.)

Re: How would I get started?

#113

Post by fearless »

Mz wrote: post #85
fearless wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Aren't you homeless? Your first priority should be a getting a job so you can get out of debt and put a roof over your head. Then worry about big ideas like changing healthcare. To be perfectly candid, the reason people dismiss you is that someone who seems incapable of providing for themselves to take care of their basic needs is certainly incapable of starting a hugely disruptive business. Sorry if this is harsh. J…

I left my job in order to finish getting well. I was working at a desk job but the building was in an industrial park, surrounded by factories. Given how expensive and debilitating my condition is via conventional treatments, it makes no sense, financial or otherwise, to pursue an income source which keeps me ill. My first priority should be, and is, my health.

Isn't being homeless generally accepted as being more detrimental to health than pretty much any office job?

My only point is that you should start at the bottom of Maslow's hierarchy and take care of the basics for yourself before trying to change the world. Seriously. Get off the internet, get off HN, and figure out some way to have a stable income(or apply for disability and welfare), get health insurance, etc. After you've done that you can transform healthcare. Not before. Ranting online isn't going to change anything for you. Get out there and fix the basics.

Re: How would I get started?

#114

Post by Mz »

fearless wrote: post #113
Mz wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I left my job in order to finish getting well. I was working at a desk job but the building was in an industrial park, surrounded by factories. Given how expensive and debilitating my condition is via conventional treatments, it makes no sense, financial or otherwise, to pursue an income source which keeps me ill. My first priority should be, and is, my health.

Isn't being homeless generally accepted as being more detrimental to health than pretty much any office job? My only point is that you should start at the bottom of Maslow's hierarchy and take care of the basics for yourself before trying to change the world. Seriously. Get off the internet, get off HN, and figure out some way to have a stable income(or apply for disability and welfare), get health insurance, etc. Af…

I am fixing the basics. I know you mean well, but you do not know what you are talking about when it comes to my situation.

Also, I did not post in this thread to ask for support, but to make a point, and not about me per se. I am sorry you are so distracted by the particulars of my situation, which are really rather incidental to this discussion, which is about HN culture.

Anyway, I have things to do. Logging out now.

Later.

Re: How would I get started?

#115

Post by napoleond »

Mz wrote: post #112
napoleond wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Patrick, this is condescending. I doubt you meant for it to come across that way, but that's how I read it. Most of the posts in the original thread could have conveyed the exact same information in a less dismissive, discouraging, and sometimes even hostile tone--it would have made them more valuable to our community.

You are right: It is condescending, and I downvoted it for that reason which has no doubt been cancelled out by like a hundred upvotes just because it is Patrick. But, gee, how many other people get called by their first name instead of their handle? "Thomas" comes to mind, but I imagine it is a rather small club. Patrick is fairly introverted and gets super nervous when giving public speeches, even though he has exp…

My name is Dave :) I'm sorry about your fever.

I hold Patrick in extremely high regard, and I don't want anyone to read my previous comment as a personal attack or an attempt to place anyone in a hot seat.

Re: How would I get started?

#116

Post by Mz »

napoleond wrote: post #115
Mz wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are right: It is condescending, and I downvoted it for that reason which has no doubt been cancelled out by like a hundred upvotes just because it is Patrick. But, gee, how many other people get called by their first name instead of their handle? "Thomas" comes to mind, but I imagine it is a rather small club. Patrick is fairly introverted and gets super nervous when giving public speeches, even though he has exp…

My name is Dave :) I'm sorry about your fever. I hold Patrick in extremely high regard, and I don't want anyone to read my previous comment as a personal attack or an attempt to place anyone in a hot seat.

I am Michele. I was not trying to put you on the hot seat either. It struck me as an opportunity to address some of the underlying issues in the forum, issues which sparked this submission. Please consider it a compliment that I thought your remark a worthy jumping off point.

And, as I have said twice already tonight on hn, I really need to go now.

Later.

Re: How would I get started?

#117

Post by mikeash »

koide wrote: post #93
drumdance wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not an NLP guy by any means, but aren't we at the point where we can at least guess sentiment algorithmically? Couldn't you combine that with the commenter's history, the length of the post and the presence of charged words such as "nonsense" and "silly?"

Ternary sentiment detection rates are currently around 30-40% for Spanish. English rates might be better, but not by a lot. That means you give a piece of text to your classifier and it will tell you correctly if has positive, negative or neutral connotation at most 40% of the time. In short, we are still worse than a fair coin toss at sentiment detection. Language is not tricky at all, no sir. Can you see why? :-)

Pardon my nitpicking, but wouldn't the metaphorical "coin toss" in a case where there are three possibilities be 33%, so 40% is very (very) slightly better?

For cases with only two outcomes, you can never be worse than a coin toss. If you're achieving 40% accuracy in that case, all you have to do is invert the output of your algorithm and suddenly you're achieving 60% accuracy.

Not a terribly important point I'm making, I know.

Re: How would I get started?

#118

Post by [deleted] »

Mz wrote: post #112
napoleond wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Patrick, this is condescending. I doubt you meant for it to come across that way, but that's how I read it. Most of the posts in the original thread could have conveyed the exact same information in a less dismissive, discouraging, and sometimes even hostile tone--it would have made them more valuable to our community.

You are right: It is condescending, and I downvoted it for that reason which has no doubt been cancelled out by like a hundred upvotes just because it is Patrick. But, gee, how many other people get called by their first name instead of their handle? "Thomas" comes to mind, but I imagine it is a rather small club. Patrick is fairly introverted and gets super nervous when giving public speeches, even though he has exp…

[deleted]

Re: How would I get started?

#120

Post by pla3rhat3r »

LOVE this! I'm new to programming and it's the toughest thing to answer. How or where do I get started? I have some great ideas but not much in the way of skills to get it done. I know we all have different levels of "figure it out" skills but it's always helpful if you find someone who can at least show you how to open the door.
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