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Ask YC: Innocuous news?

news.ycombinator.com

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Re: Ask YC: Innocuous news?

#33

Post by grinich »

stewiecat wrote: post #31
mattlanger wrote: post #25

In our office you get funny looks if you don't read Hacker News.

I dream of such places, thanks for letting my know that, unlike unicorns, they exist.

There's no reason for them not to exist, you just may not have found one yet.

Just like magnetic monopoles...

Re: Ask YC: Innocuous news?

#34

Post by GrandMasterBirt »

ableal wrote: post #24
pedalpete wrote: post #5

I rather liked the strange looks I got from reading Hacker News, but at least I learned a new word today Innocuous - 1. not harmful or injurious; harmless: an innocuous home remedy. 2. not likely to irritate or offend; inoffensive; an innocuous remark. 3. not interesting, stimulating, or significant; pallid; insipid: an innocuous novel.

Mostly harmless. Or '42'. Just plain '42'. (if you need to ask, you can't afford it ;-)

Mostly Harmless News. Definitely what it should be. DON'T PANIC!

Re: Ask YC: Innocuous news?

#35

Post by Confusion »

grinich wrote: post #33
stewiecat wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I dream of such places, thanks for letting my know that, unlike unicorns, they exist.

There's no reason for them not to exist, you just may not have found one yet. Just like magnetic monopoles...

And if you cannot find one, you should found one.

Re: Ask YC: Innocuous news?

#36

Post by Confusion »

JabavuAdams wrote: post #23
pedalpete wrote: post #5

I rather liked the strange looks I got from reading Hacker News, but at least I learned a new word today Innocuous - 1. not harmful or injurious; harmless: an innocuous home remedy. 2. not likely to irritate or offend; inoffensive; an innocuous remark. 3. not interesting, stimulating, or significant; pallid; insipid: an innocuous novel.

I read a lot, but I have a habit of glossing over words for which I have a vague sense, but not a precise definition. For a while, whenever I'd read something, I'd just quickly jot down any word for which I couldn't come up with a good definition. Later, I'd look them up. It works, and it's saved me some embarrassment. Schadenfreude didn't mean what I thought it meant.

I find that an amazing thing about language, that you often don't need a precise definition, because the meaning is clear from the context. Perhaps 'innocuous' isn't the best example, as 'innocent' is well known and pretty close, but it also works for words that you lack any 'hint' for.

I looked up innocuous when I saw the title change, but didn't really learn anything new.

Re: Ask YC: Innocuous news?

#37

Post by pg »

cubicle67 wrote: post #17
pg wrote: post #4

No, I just changed the name for a bit. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=575487

Could we have it back again? I quite like it. Appeals to my somewhat odd taste.

Don't worry, it will only last for the current server process. I just changed the name in the repl.

Re: Ask YC: Innocuous news?

#38

Post by frossie »

tptacek wrote: post #10
pg wrote: post #4

No, I just changed the name for a bit. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=575487

Can you do me a favor and change the word "News" to "Important Work Site".

Given all the complaints about the increasing popularity of the site, I was more expecting "Boring News, Nothing Funny Here, Go Back to Tech Crunch" or something.

Re: Ask YC: Innocuous news?

#39

Post by asimjalis »

pg wrote: post #4

No, I just changed the name for a bit. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=575487

Why not call it Make Something People Want News. It might focus the mind of the posters and reduce off-topic posts. Also "Innocuous News" has the feel of an inside joke; it might lead to a recurring Ask-HN thread about the name.
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