Okay, so stupid question time... but oh well.
Is there an easy way to download the corpus of comments?
A challenge, identify this HN user, I tried twice and failed
141–150 of 152 posts
Re: A challenge, identify this HN user, I tried twice and failed
#142"What a surprise to find a whole thread and blog post dedicated to the search for my identity.
I consent to a benevolent search for my identity or identities. I was quite surprised to see the speed and scale of this development - another symptom of networked life."
This person has said that we can find out his identity... if at all possible. Therefore, you are welcome to search based on his own permission.
Re: A challenge, identify this HN user, I tried twice and failed
#143One of the strong indicators is the use of italics in the post. Many users will ignore formatting within their posts. I am confident this user has used italic formatting before for emphasis and has done it often within their HN posts. It also indicates a comfort level within HN which means they have likely posted frequently. (At least one a month)
Re: A challenge, identify this HN user, I tried twice and failed
#144Stop trying to identify this user. They did not issue a challenge to be identified--in fact they agree with the notion that privacy is dead, which seems to be what you're trying to prove with this exercise. They may have serious reasons for using a one time account. If your name is one of the (very random) guesses in this post, please neither confirm nor deny that the user is you, since this could identify that user…
http://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=onetimetoken
Says it all.
Re: A challenge, identify this HN user, I tried twice and failed
#145Earlier quoted context omitted.
Google's regular search doesn't handle hyphenation but Trends appears to: http://www.google.com/trends?q=%22high-end%22%2C%22high+end%... . Google searches give me results which suspect this Trend search is not sound however. I'm from the UK too.
The problem is context, a common issue with tracking things with Google Trends in particular. Tracking programming language usage with it, for example, has been a nightmare ("ruby" and "python" having far too many meanings, but few write "ruby programming"). "high end" has more uses than "high-end." For example, "I bought a car at the high end of my budget." In that case, "high-end" wouldn't make sense. In "datacente…
It's a blunt tool, agreed. But it was supposed to be a simple indicator only, not a measure.
Re: A challenge, identify this HN user, I tried twice and failed
#146Earlier quoted context omitted.
> The post did not explain what methods were used, The post didn't but the original thread did, I tried matching the vocabulary of the samples to the corpus of HN comments. > what work in authorship identification influenced his approach This is not a scientific paper. > nor did he provide his ranked findings. I'm not giving my ranked results because I think two attempts from me is enough. > The tries are actually fa…
I assume this upsets the user because using a one time account indicates a desire not to be identified or associated with the posted content, and the user wants this preference to be honored.
They find it amusing, and they do not mind. If you look at the comments of the user, they authorize their own identification if we can do so.
Re: A challenge, identify this HN user, I tried twice and failed
#147I used the rarely rare words used (rare combination of words used only 1/few time(s)[ORG]):
(i) The first search[1] revealed "gstar", but although they both have similar writing style, gstar doesn't have an active participation on privacy discussions (based to the query only [2])
(ii) The second search[3] revealed "astine": now this is interesting because this user has a very active participation on privacy discussions[4], especially I think he was inspired by _why[5].
[1] http://searchyc.com/sentiment+that+inspires
[2] http://searchyc.com/user/gstar
[3] http://searchyc.com/Ethically%252C+is+it+fair
[4] http://searchyc.com/user/astine
[5] http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=774337
EDIT: [ORG] Based on the original comment at http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1197027
Re: A challenge, identify this HN user, I tried twice and failed
#148Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes. Probably a common protocol will emerge. Also posting bets and searching for someone to take the other side (or be the arbiter--in case any is needed) could be interesting. Similar to http://www.longbets.org/ , but embedded into HN and not focussed on long-term bets. Edit: I have opened a new top-level post about this topic. See http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1200153
Payment could be in the form of services provided by startups at HN. Subscriptions to our SaaS systems, free products, discounts, etc.
Sure. Or just bragging rights on some website. (E.g. a small line mentioning the winner on the bottom of HN, for challenges that pg thinks worthy.)
Re: A challenge, identify this HN user, I tried twice and failed
#149I think the post was by "eru" I base this on eru's phrasing and use of "dissimilar" in the post in question, which can also be noted here: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1159200 My strategy was to look for unusual words and phrases and do a google site search for those phrases. Additionally, eru's post in this thread indicate an interest in privacy and eru's activity pattern is both frequent, and recent which I…
Re: A challenge, identify this HN user, I tried twice and failed
#150I used the rarely rare words used (rare combination of words used only 1/few time(s)[ORG]): (i) The first search[1] revealed "gstar" , but although they both have similar writing style, gstar doesn't have an active participation on privacy discussions (based to the query only [2]) ( ii ) The second search[3] revealed "astine" : now this is interesting because this user has a very active participation on privacy discu…
strlen is a match for [1]: http://searchyc.com/sentiment+that+inspires
He's my prime suspect: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1200739
It's gotta be him.