4 ms·
What's up with the black bar on top?
Anyone else find it distracting?
- valevk 11y agoIt's: <tr><td bgcolor="#000000"><img src="s.gif" height="5" width="0"></td></tr> Don't know why.
- i336_ 11y agoRereading the thread, it's like a flag at half mast or an armband. HN does it to acknowledge tragic events. On a side note, I was quite stunned when I poked around in the HTML recently and discovered that the site still uses spacer gifs. (I was poking around because the spacer gif had started 404ing and I was wondering why I kept seeing random image placeholders.)
- briane80 11y agohttp://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/13/technology/gene-amdahl-pioneer-of-mainframe-computing-dies-at-92.html?_r=0 http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/13/technology/gene-amdahl-pio...
- asadhaider 11y agoI think it would be good if the black bar linked to the news article or HN post.
- brudgers 11y agoI understand the technical sentiment behind your suggestion, but don't believe it consistent with what the black bar means to express. Perhaps I see it analogous to a footballer's armband worn in tribute to a club's very late former player.
- kohanz 11y agoI don't think having the black bar being a link goes against that sentiment. When a footballer wears such an armband, an observant (but out-of-the-loop) spectator would ask "why are they wearing that black armband?" and either be told by the announcers, friends, or have to look it up. We just don't have the technology to attach a "link" IRL to an armband or a flag flying at half-mast. In this situation, a link would be beneficial without taking away from the respects being paid, IMHO.
- brudgers 11y agoIn the case of asking a fellow club supporter there is a social act that reinforces the community. Likewise, with a public announcement in the stadium. Clicking a link is solipsistic. It's a technical puzzle subject to all the distraction [case in point] of opinionated arguments about UI design A versus B. To me, the black bar seems to be pretty close the minimum needed to fulfill the purpose.
- asadhaider 11y agoEven something in the FAQ about it would be helpful, I wouldn't have known what the black bar was for if I hadn't seen it previously and someone made a post just like this.
- BorisMelnik 11y agoyes the black arm band is what I thought of as well. In this case it is probably the color that best contrasts with HN orange.
- Killswitch 11y agoSorry if this sounds bad, but without having to read the article, what exactly does the bar signify?
- asadhaider 11y agoIt's added as a mark of respect when someone important to the community dies, in this case it's Gene Amdahl.
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- 27182818284 11y agoIt is done from time to time on Hacker News during a significant death in the computer/hacker world. There was similarly one done for John McCarthy years ago http://web.archive.org/web/20111025011711/http://news.ycombinator.com/ http://web.archive.org/web/20111025011711/http://news.ycombi...
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- alain94040 11y agoPossibly because your started your comment with "without having to read the article". If someone answers a question with a link to an article, you could skim the article at least, rather than post that you didn't bother to check the article out, and would rather have someone else explain it to you in the comments section.
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- icpmacdo 11y agoFrom Dang though, https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10558802 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10558802 ?
- jack9 11y agoI think it's appropriate. Unintrusive, noted by readers. It should link to a notice of the death tho.
- spoiledtechie 11y agoYC has always been a supporter of technology. I don't know the history of the black bar, but I have been around for quite some time in HN and Ive only seen it twice now. So it makes me think it started when Reddit founder Aaron Swartz killed himself. This black bar is a way of morning such tech pioneers.