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Is anyone else a little disturbed that this has 121 points and is at the top of the HN frontpage? Maybe I'm just being grumpy but it seems like total fluff that

by almost 17y ago

Is anyone else a little disturbed that this has 121 points and is at the top of the HN frontpage? Maybe I'm just being grumpy but it seems like total fluff that's of no use to anyone. I'm surprised it hasn't been killed, are there no mods around today?

kiba 17y ago
Why do you think it is fluff that is of no use to anyone. It is not like HNers aren't interested in girls.
- almost 17y ago
  So you think it provides some insight into something or other? Not just a cheap laugh? It seems to me to be quite a long way from "anything that gratifies one's intellectual curiosity".
  - Mz 17y ago
    The article itself is fluff but it seems to have generated good discussion of how people search. If I upvote it, it will be to find the discussion again, not to give applause for the article. (Of course now that I have commented, I don't have to upvote it to find it. I can get to it via my comments. :) )
smokinjuan 17y ago
I just got an account today after lurking a few months and read the FAQ just after reading the "Built By Google" story. To poke fun at the FAQ "OMG HN is turning into reddit!!1!" It all ties together nicely from an AI standpoint though. Granted the material is generated by users, but isn't there a hint of AI to it? Look past what the user typed and rather how they're using the service. It's tech and it's a "hack."
- almost 17y ago
  I'm not sure I understand what you're saying in this comment.
  - brianto2010 17y ago
    I believe he is trying to qualify why this article is appropriate for HN. Read the last two sentences. He is refuting the original comment by saying that this story "gratifies one's intellectual curiosity". The AI stuff might need a bit of explanation, though.
    - smokinjuan 17y ago
      You're right on the 1st 1/2. Concerning AI, it's certainly artificial, but how intelligent does it need to be to be considered AI (at least, by the general population)? People seem to be using Google Suggest to get answers to real questions (or at least entertain themselves). If a useful answer is returned, is it not "intelligence?"
      - deleted 17y ago
        [deleted]
      - almost 17y ago
        I know the term is somewhat vague in it's meaning these days but I don't think many people would consider "show the most common queries with this prefix" to be AI. Besides, it's the content not the mechanism being presented here, I guess it does support some common biases which is maybe a reason people like it.
mhansen 17y ago
Hit the 'flag' link. If enough people do that, it'll be killed automatically, without need for any mods.
- almost 17y ago
  I have. I'm courious as to what others see in it though... It's up high in the /classic view to so clearly it's not just a bunch of newcomers.
pkaler 17y ago
I think it is very useful. I will type partial searches into Google the next time I put together a customer survey.
- almost 17y ago
  Please don't. Think of all the confounding factors.
davidw 17y ago
I probably wouldn't have posted it a few months ago, but seeing some of what goes by lately I figured it wouldn't hurt. It's amazing that it got so many points though - it's really not that interesting. Especially compared to some of my other recent submissions that I thought would be way more interesting to this crowd in terms of startups and hacking.
- almost 17y ago
  That I see as the problem, because now a whole bunch of other people will see this and think the same as you and we end up drowning in the stuff. Because of course this sort of stuff appeals to the lowest common denominator and doesn't require any mental effort whatsoever to process it tends to get lots of votes and drown out the more interesting but possible slightly challenging material.
  - davidw 17y ago
    I think the site is basically at a point where either pg gets really strict about fluff/politics/economics or it will continue to slide.
    - almost 17y ago
      It is the nature of these sort of sites that they're always right on the edge. Let's try not to push it over though :) Maybe (probably) it will degenerate at some point like all the others have but it would be nice if it stayed around a little longer.
scorpion032 17y ago
Its a monday morning. Most Hackers would be busy coding to visit HN anyway.
- astine 17y ago
  It wasn't Monday when I read that comment last night.

by almost 17y ago

kiba 17y ago

Why do you think it is fluff that is of no use to anyone. It is not like HNers aren't interested in girls.

almost 17y ago
So you think it provides some insight into something or other? Not just a cheap laugh? It seems to me to be quite a long way from "anything that gratifies one's intellectual curiosity".
- Mz 17y ago
  The article itself is fluff but it seems to have generated good discussion of how people search. If I upvote it, it will be to find the discussion again, not to give applause for the article. (Of course now that I have commented, I don't have to upvote it to find it. I can get to it via my comments. :) )

smokinjuan 17y ago

I just got an account today after lurking a few months and read the FAQ just after reading the "Built By Google" story. To poke fun at the FAQ "OMG HN is turning into reddit!!1!" It all ties together nicely from an AI standpoint though. Granted the material is generated by users, but isn't there a hint of AI to it? Look past what the user typed and rather how they're using the service. It's tech and it's a "hack."

almost 17y ago
I'm not sure I understand what you're saying in this comment.
- brianto2010 17y ago
  I believe he is trying to qualify why this article is appropriate for HN. Read the last two sentences. He is refuting the original comment by saying that this story "gratifies one's intellectual curiosity". The AI stuff might need a bit of explanation, though.
  - smokinjuan 17y ago
    You're right on the 1st 1/2. Concerning AI, it's certainly artificial, but how intelligent does it need to be to be considered AI (at least, by the general population)? People seem to be using Google Suggest to get answers to real questions (or at least entertain themselves). If a useful answer is returned, is it not "intelligence?"
    - deleted 17y ago
      [deleted]
    - almost 17y ago
      I know the term is somewhat vague in it's meaning these days but I don't think many people would consider "show the most common queries with this prefix" to be AI. Besides, it's the content not the mechanism being presented here, I guess it does support some common biases which is maybe a reason people like it.

mhansen 17y ago

Hit the 'flag' link. If enough people do that, it'll be killed automatically, without need for any mods.

almost 17y ago
I have. I'm courious as to what others see in it though... It's up high in the /classic view to so clearly it's not just a bunch of newcomers.

pkaler 17y ago

I think it is very useful. I will type partial searches into Google the next time I put together a customer survey.

almost 17y ago
Please don't. Think of all the confounding factors.

davidw 17y ago

I probably wouldn't have posted it a few months ago, but seeing some of what goes by lately I figured it wouldn't hurt. It's amazing that it got so many points though - it's really not that interesting. Especially compared to some of my other recent submissions that I thought would be way more interesting to this crowd in terms of startups and hacking.

almost 17y ago
That I see as the problem, because now a whole bunch of other people will see this and think the same as you and we end up drowning in the stuff. Because of course this sort of stuff appeals to the lowest common denominator and doesn't require any mental effort whatsoever to process it tends to get lots of votes and drown out the more interesting but possible slightly challenging material.
- davidw 17y ago
  I think the site is basically at a point where either pg gets really strict about fluff/politics/economics or it will continue to slide.
  - almost 17y ago
    It is the nature of these sort of sites that they're always right on the edge. Let's try not to push it over though :) Maybe (probably) it will degenerate at some point like all the others have but it would be nice if it stayed around a little longer.

scorpion032 17y ago

Its a monday morning. Most Hackers would be busy coding to visit HN anyway.

astine 17y ago
It wasn't Monday when I read that comment last night.