Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Shocked by online comments, reporter writes profile of hit-and-run victim

tampabay.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

41–50 of 116 posts

Re: Shocked by online comments, reporter writes profile of hit-and-run victim

#41

Post by Sandman »

GiraffeNecktie wrote: post #39
mixmax wrote: post #38

Not trying to be snarky, but why is this upvoted? It's an article about an unfortunate guy that got killed on his bike and died. How is this interesting? What am I missing? Since the article has 100+ points there's obviously something I've sompletely missed. What is it?

You clearly missed the point of the article which was specifically to respond to the insensitive anonymous online commenters who had dismissed the man as a worthless nobody. The reporter dug into his life to give us a rounded picture of who he was and why every life, no matter how modest, has meaning and value.

I don't believe mixmax missed the point at all. I believe that he/she is genuinely interested in what exactly 'gratifies one's intellectual curiosity' in this article, to quote the guidelines. I'm sorry if I come of as rude here, I am appalled by the insensitivity of those anonymous comments just like the rest of you, but, like mixmax, I too don't quite get what is it in this article that 'hackers would find interesting'. There must be something, otherwise it wouldn't receive over 100 votes.

Re: Shocked by online comments, reporter writes profile of hit-and-run victim

#42

Post by GiraffeNecktie »

Sandman wrote: post #41
GiraffeNecktie wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You clearly missed the point of the article which was specifically to respond to the insensitive anonymous online commenters who had dismissed the man as a worthless nobody. The reporter dug into his life to give us a rounded picture of who he was and why every life, no matter how modest, has meaning and value.

I don't believe mixmax missed the point at all. I believe that he/she is genuinely interested in what exactly 'gratifies one's intellectual curiosity' in this article, to quote the guidelines. I'm sorry if I come of as rude here, I am appalled by the insensitivity of those anonymous comments just like the rest of you, but, like mixmax, I too don't quite get what is it in this article that 'hackers would find interest…

"Hackers" are not a monolithic group that share exactly the same interests. Some people (hackers or not) might have intellectual curiosity about the lives of ordinary people, about how a media organization responded (or, in other stories, failed to respond) to nasty online comments, or about how a simple news item (man on bike killed in hit and run) can be given layers of meaning. Personally I found a great deal of stimulation for my intellect (much more so than reading yet another item about antenna issues on the iPhone), but I don't mean to suggest that everyone would see it the same way.

Re: Shocked by online comments, reporter writes profile of hit-and-run victim

#43

Post by jgwynn2901 »

Sandman wrote: post #41
GiraffeNecktie wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You clearly missed the point of the article which was specifically to respond to the insensitive anonymous online commenters who had dismissed the man as a worthless nobody. The reporter dug into his life to give us a rounded picture of who he was and why every life, no matter how modest, has meaning and value.

I don't believe mixmax missed the point at all. I believe that he/she is genuinely interested in what exactly 'gratifies one's intellectual curiosity' in this article, to quote the guidelines. I'm sorry if I come of as rude here, I am appalled by the insensitivity of those anonymous comments just like the rest of you, but, like mixmax, I too don't quite get what is it in this article that 'hackers would find interest…

It gave me much need pause to reflect and recognize how fortunate I am to have found a career I can be passionate about. That people I generally don't think about could possibly be more interesting and have more to teach me than most of my associates. I also learned that having the latest iPhone (when the previous one didn't break) marks you not as discriminating and fashionable but as easily manipulated.

Re: Shocked by online comments, reporter writes profile of hit-and-run victim

#44

Post by Tichy »

TGJ wrote: post #3

How aggravating. "I'll go through 10 people before I find another like him" yet he will continue to pay the man 7.25 an hour. Everything you want out of an employee and nothing else and you can't pay the guy better than dirt cheap minimum wage and somehow lament at his death.

Maybe by "another like him" he meant "another who is willing to work for minimum wage".

Re: Shocked by online comments, reporter writes profile of hit-and-run victim

#45

Post by igrekel »

Sandman wrote: post #41
GiraffeNecktie wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You clearly missed the point of the article which was specifically to respond to the insensitive anonymous online commenters who had dismissed the man as a worthless nobody. The reporter dug into his life to give us a rounded picture of who he was and why every life, no matter how modest, has meaning and value.

I don't believe mixmax missed the point at all. I believe that he/she is genuinely interested in what exactly 'gratifies one's intellectual curiosity' in this article, to quote the guidelines. I'm sorry if I come of as rude here, I am appalled by the insensitivity of those anonymous comments just like the rest of you, but, like mixmax, I too don't quite get what is it in this article that 'hackers would find interest…

Like everyone on HN I am annoyed disappointed by the natural tendency of online comments to give way to trolls. This article just seemed like a very classy response to troll comments.

Re: Shocked by online comments, reporter writes profile of hit-and-run victim

#46

Post by mixmax »

GiraffeNecktie wrote: post #42
Sandman wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't believe mixmax missed the point at all. I believe that he/she is genuinely interested in what exactly 'gratifies one's intellectual curiosity' in this article, to quote the guidelines. I'm sorry if I come of as rude here, I am appalled by the insensitivity of those anonymous comments just like the rest of you, but, like mixmax, I too don't quite get what is it in this article that 'hackers would find interest…

"Hackers" are not a monolithic group that share exactly the same interests. Some people (hackers or not) might have intellectual curiosity about the lives of ordinary people, about how a media organization responded (or, in other stories, failed to respond) to nasty online comments, or about how a simple news item (man on bike killed in hit and run) can be given layers of meaning. Personally I found a great deal of s…

Sandman is correct in his asessment - I completely understand the point and context of the article as explained in these comments. I simply didn't understand why it seemed to be interesting enough to gather 100+ votes. You can call the original question an attempt to gratify my intellectual curiosity as to why this story is so interesting.

Your comment sheds some light on it, personally I still don't see the value of the article but I do see the sentiment for upvoting it. I merely thought there was some finer point I didn't get and wanted to understand it.

Re: Shocked by online comments, reporter writes profile of hit-and-run victim

#47

Post by robryan »

Sandman wrote: post #41
GiraffeNecktie wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You clearly missed the point of the article which was specifically to respond to the insensitive anonymous online commenters who had dismissed the man as a worthless nobody. The reporter dug into his life to give us a rounded picture of who he was and why every life, no matter how modest, has meaning and value.

I don't believe mixmax missed the point at all. I believe that he/she is genuinely interested in what exactly 'gratifies one's intellectual curiosity' in this article, to quote the guidelines. I'm sorry if I come of as rude here, I am appalled by the insensitivity of those anonymous comments just like the rest of you, but, like mixmax, I too don't quite get what is it in this article that 'hackers would find interest…

From hackers I know many are also interested in community building and working towards and more fair and just world where everyone is appreciated for their contributions.

I guess that's what your seeing from the upvotes.

Re: Shocked by online comments, reporter writes profile of hit-and-run victim

#48

Post by electromagnetic »

stuaxo wrote: post #23
jackowayed wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Anyone can bike on the roads without any license or anything, and they teach you nothing in school about safe biking. But I think what he meant is that drivers aren't aware of bike-related issues, aren't looking out for bikes, do stupid shit whenever they see bikes, etc. I love biking, and it's a great way to get around, but stupid drivers make it really dangerous.

No license in the UK, but most kids do the cycling proficiency test http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cycling_Proficiency_Test

I know my primary school forbid students cycling to school if they hadn't passed the cycling proficiency test, my secondary school officially forbade it, but considering they had around a thousand students it was harder than policing the 40-60 kids my primary school had who were actually old enough to be left alone to cycle to school.

What I liked best about my local town was that the cycling zones were put onto the sidewalk, so as long as you was in the cycle lane you didn't have to yield to pass pedestrians, but you weren't at risk from drivers on the unmarked roads. I don't think I ever heard of a cyclist being hit on the street, one of my friends was hit but that was because someone backed out of a hedged-drive way at a bad time and broke his leg. IIRC the driver got a caution and the council fined him and ordered his hedges be cut down as they violated height restrictions.

Re: Shocked by online comments, reporter writes profile of hit-and-run victim

#49

Post by zephyrfalcon »

ugh wrote: post #16
jrockway wrote: post #11

Police said that Mr. Smith was following bicycle safety recommendations such as wearing light-colored clothing, using reflectors and riding in the bicycle lane. This is a common misconception. Reflectors are worthless. Riding in the bike lane exposes you to great danger -- car doors flying open to the right, aggressive motorists passing too closely on the left. If you take the lane, you're out of the "door zone", and…

I would be carful with the application of hyperbole. Reflectors don’t work under certain conditions but they do work very often. They are by no means worthless. I could imagine that especially reflectors in the spokes can help increase visibility. … and the total lack of bicycle education in the US. Is there really no road safety education in school? We have pretty extensive road safety education in Germany including…

I moved from the Netherlands to the US nine years ago, and one of the big differences I noticed was the almost complete lack of bicycles on the roads. Not just that, but also the way bikes are used (or not used).

Where I'm from, there are many places with crowded traffic (not just in the bigger cities) and many, many bikes. It's common for kids to ride their bike to school, for example. There is such a thing as a "traffic test" for kids riding bikes, although I'm not sure if all schools do this. As for motorists, driving lessons are mandatory, and some of the things you learn are meant to protect cyclists: if your car has to take a right turn, you have to stop and look in your mirrors and over your right shoulder to check if there's no bikes coming (because they have the right of way!), and when you park you don't just slam open your car door, you look for bikes and other traffic first. (Failing to do so during the (non-trivial) drivers exam will likely earn you a failing grade.)

The Dutch have a lot of crazy traffic rules, but some of them actually make sense. :-) This why there are relatively few accidents with bikes, people accept them as part of the regular traffic, and cyclists don't need to wear helmets. (They do need reflectors so they can more easily be seen at night.)

So, coming from this, when you then move to the US, your first reaction might well be, "why don't people ride their bikes (to school, work, etc)?" One of the reasons is that it's just not a very common or safe way of transportation around here (at least in most areas -- I don't know about downtown SF or something).

Re: Shocked by online comments, reporter writes profile of hit-and-run victim

#50

Post by chopsueyar »

Psyonic wrote: post #28
jrockway wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the US, bikes are basically considered toys. If you're a kid, you ride one on your sidewalk to enjoy a sunny Saturday afternoon. If you're an adult, you buy one that costs $3000 to impress your friends. You put it on the back of your car, drive it to a fun location, and pedal around for a few hours once a month. It's way too dangerous to even consider thinking about maybe possibly riding it to work or something, b…

A co-worker at my last job said she even had people go so far as to throw stuff out their windows at her as they passed while she was cycling... ever happened to you?

In one lf Lance Armstrong's books, he mentions that happening while practicing in Texas, IIRC.

He obtained the license plate number, and the driver was convicted of assult. Also, if you are intentionally run off the road by a vehicle, it can be considered assault with a deadly weapon.

Post reply on HN