I’m Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. AMA • Hacker News Board

Re: I’m Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. AMA

#91

Post by tedunangst » Mon, Feb 11, 2013, 9:43 PM UTC

recoiledsnake wrote: post #68

zem wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

how do you know it was flagged?

It has 222 points and is at #17, far below other posts posted longer ago and with less points. This is an indication of heavy flagging. http://i.imgur.com/hFFueFf.png This isn't the first time anyway. Pretty much any post mentioning Microsoft in a not bad light seems to get flagged by people with good karma abusing it. Edit: It's at 325 points(posted 4 hours ago) right now and stuck at #14. Has to break some record f…

I think some sites have a bonus point degrader applied to them, so they age off faster. Prevents what may otherwise be popular sites from dominating the front page.

Re: I’m Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. AMA

#92

Post by jbert » Mon, Feb 11, 2013, 9:51 PM UTC

grimlck wrote: post #12

I really wish reddit had a better interface to see the questions and Bill's answers all at once without scrolling through random comments. Why hasn't reddit's AMA been surpassed by a dedicated AMA site with a user interface designed for AMA?

Page search for '[s]' to find comments by the submitter.

Re: I’m Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. AMA

#93

Post by breck » Mon, Feb 11, 2013, 9:51 PM UTC

I liked this question a lot:

> What's your favorite book?

> "My favorite [book] of the last decade in Pinker's Better Angels of our Nature."

Hadn't heard of that book before, but definitely going to read it now.

Re: I’m Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. AMA

#94

Post by orangethirty » Mon, Feb 11, 2013, 9:54 PM UTC

    'Anyone good at QBasic?
    'I haven't written it in years.

    ANSWER = INPUT
    PRINT ANSWER
    PRINT "Thank you for playing."

Re: I’m Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. AMA

#95

Post by nvmc » Mon, Feb 11, 2013, 9:57 PM UTC

tobylane wrote: post #90

waterlesscloud wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's kind of crazy when you think about his goals of eradicating some diseases completely. Totally. From the face of the Earth. There are definitely worse ways to spend your time and money.

Since smallpox I've heard of several diseases removed, but no talk about saving a few vials. Is this still done?

I'd guess it is. Diseases are still organisms, and we try pretty hard not to let them go extinct.

Re: I’m Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. AMA

#96

Post by prodigal_erik » Mon, Feb 11, 2013, 10:10 PM UTC

tedunangst wrote: post #91

recoiledsnake wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It has 222 points and is at #17, far below other posts posted longer ago and with less points. This is an indication of heavy flagging. http://i.imgur.com/hFFueFf.png This isn't the first time anyway. Pretty much any post mentioning Microsoft in a not bad light seems to get flagged by people with good karma abusing it. Edit: It's at 325 points(posted 4 hours ago) right now and stuck at #14. Has to break some record f…

I think some sites have a bonus point degrader applied to them, so they age off faster. Prevents what may otherwise be popular sites from dominating the front page.

I should hope so. I didn't flag this (as robber baron parasites go, Gates is pretty interesting and topical) but #1 on the Reddit front page isn't exactly obscure.

Re: I’m Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. AMA

#97

Post by 27182818284 » Mon, Feb 11, 2013, 10:12 PM UTC

cooldeal wrote: post #70

recoiledsnake wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It has 222 points and is at #17, far below other posts posted longer ago and with less points. This is an indication of heavy flagging. http://i.imgur.com/hFFueFf.png This isn't the first time anyway. Pretty much any post mentioning Microsoft in a not bad light seems to get flagged by people with good karma abusing it. Edit: It's at 325 points(posted 4 hours ago) right now and stuck at #14. Has to break some record f…

Looks like even mentioning the flagging is taboo. My top level comment on this story[1] calling out the flagging is sitting at the bottom of the comment pile, very grayed out. [1] http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5203191

Or people just decided to downvote it because they felt it didn't add anything. shrug

Re: I’m Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. AMA

#98

Post by kevincrane » Mon, Feb 11, 2013, 10:14 PM UTC

nvmc wrote: post #95

tobylane wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Since smallpox I've heard of several diseases removed, but no talk about saving a few vials. Is this still done?

I'd guess it is. Diseases are still organisms, and we try pretty hard not to let them go extinct.

What's the reason for keeping them though? Is it to make vaccines if they potentially come back or more sinister pre-emptive military reasons?

Re: I’m Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. AMA

#99

Post by cooldeal » Mon, Feb 11, 2013, 10:17 PM UTC

27182818284 wrote: post #97

cooldeal wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Looks like even mentioning the flagging is taboo. My top level comment on this story[1] calling out the flagging is sitting at the bottom of the comment pile, very grayed out. [1] http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5203191

Or people just decided to downvote it because they felt it didn't add anything. shrug

Flagging on HN isn't really the same as downvoting on Reddit.

From the HN guidelines:

If you think something is spam or offtopic, flag it by going to its page and clicking on the "flag" link. (Not all users will see this; there is a karma threshold.)

Re: I’m Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. AMA

#100

Post by cooldeal » Mon, Feb 11, 2013, 10:18 PM UTC

tedunangst wrote: post #91

recoiledsnake wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It has 222 points and is at #17, far below other posts posted longer ago and with less points. This is an indication of heavy flagging. http://i.imgur.com/hFFueFf.png This isn't the first time anyway. Pretty much any post mentioning Microsoft in a not bad light seems to get flagged by people with good karma abusing it. Edit: It's at 325 points(posted 4 hours ago) right now and stuck at #14. Has to break some record f…

I think some sites have a bonus point degrader applied to them, so they age off faster. Prevents what may otherwise be popular sites from dominating the front page.

As far as I know, there is nothing of that sort on HN. If you know more or can list sites that have the degrader applied to them, I'll be thankful.