The 500-mile email (2002)

It's one of those things that I highly doubt would have occurred to me to have even checked, or given even a moments thought to, under normal circumstances.

Re: The 500-mile email (2002)

#4

Post by Twirrim » Wed, Apr 08, 2015, 4:21 AM UTC

nathancahill wrote: post #2

1 year ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8176458 2 years ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6296201 3 years ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3802458 4 years ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3114391 5 years ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1293652 6 years ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=385068 7 years ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=123489

Maybe the submitter is one of the ten thousand https://xkcd.com/1053/

Bet there are a few more that will find this submission too.

Re: The 500-mile email (2002)

#5

Post by tlrobinson » Wed, Apr 08, 2015, 4:34 AM UTC

I see this story every so often, and it's good one, but haven't thought to verify it. Has anyone else?

Re: The 500-mile email (2002)

#6

Post by Pyxl101 » Wed, Apr 08, 2015, 4:39 AM UTC

nathancahill wrote: post #2

1 year ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8176458 2 years ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6296201 3 years ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3802458 4 years ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3114391 5 years ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1293652 6 years ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=385068 7 years ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=123489

Once a year is about the right frequency. Recurring stories is one way in which a community shares and perpetuates its culture with newcomers. Some of them are a delight to read on that yearly cadence, like the SR-71 story about a pilot and his copilot becoming a crew.

That said, it's wise to consider the frequency with which such things appear, individually and in total. Too much repetition and focus on memes becomes dysfunctionally self-obsessive. Not sure what the right answer is, but I can probably deal with once per year, short time on front page, and small % of total content.

Re: The 500-mile email (2002)

#7

Post by emilioolivares » Wed, Apr 08, 2015, 4:40 AM UTC

Twirrim wrote: post #4

nathancahill wrote: post #2

1 year ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8176458 2 years ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6296201 3 years ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3802458 4 years ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3114391 5 years ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1293652 6 years ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=385068 7 years ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=123489

Maybe the submitter is one of the ten thousand https://xkcd.com/1053/ Bet there are a few more that will find this submission too.

Ha, I'm one of the ten thousand for both the XKCD and this post. Lucky me!

Re: The 500-mile email (2002)

#8

Post by andrewchambers » Wed, Apr 08, 2015, 4:43 AM UTC

I was so happy to discover that units command line program, then i realized that Google already does this, it just wasn't as fun.

Re: The 500-mile email (2002)

#9

Post by obituary_latte » Wed, Apr 08, 2015, 4:44 AM UTC

nathancahill wrote: post #2

1 year ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8176458 2 years ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6296201 3 years ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3802458 4 years ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3114391 5 years ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1293652 6 years ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=385068 7 years ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=123489

/me is unsure whether this is condemnation or validation. anyway, let's ride the wave.

Re: The 500-mile email (2002)

#10

Post by ryan-c » Wed, Apr 08, 2015, 4:52 AM UTC

tlrobinson wrote: post #5

I see this story every so often, and it's good one, but haven't thought to verify it. Has anyone else?

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