4 ms·

dear hn: please don't ask the rest of us to not submit stories that you personally don't enjoy. just don't read them. regards, the reasonable people

by hubb 17y ago

mechanical_fish 17y ago
just don't read them If only they came with labels. Unfortunately, the hallmark of a web-based April Fool story is that it comes clothed as a real story. They're deliberately crafted to sucker you in and convince you to read two to six paragraphs before you figure out that they're made of lies. In other words, April Fool's Day is a linkbait competition. I think that's why it has worn out its welcome for so many people. Linkbait used to be more funny when it was rare. Now it's like celebrating Mosquito Day, or Spam Email Day. Yours would be a reasonable suggestion if every April Fool story was submitted with a prominent label reading [APRIL FOOL]. But that would spoil the fun, wouldn't it? If there's anything less fun than an April Fool story, it's an inartful April Fool story. Frankly I think Google raised the bar years ago when they announced Gmail on April 1. I no longer think an April Fool story is any good unless it (a) sounds like an obvious April Fool joke but (b) is 100% true.
- cj 17y ago
  April Fool's Day is a linkbait competition. Lighten up! It's only 24 hours. I think we can all survive.
  - KirinDave 17y ago
    No. You are making the site worse. When someone asks you to stop you say, “Lighten up! You'll live. It's only 24 hours.” This dodges the core issue: most people don't want that bullshit here. If you want that bullshit, there are many other news sites that will cater to your need for bullshit.
  - asolove 17y ago
    Indeed. I keep thinking: if only there were some distributed way to determine which stories people thought should be voted up and which they thought should be voted down...
- kmt 17y ago
  Not all of them need labels. For example: Google Acquires the Internal Revenue Service. This is all recreational. But it sometimes also gives you perspective. Makes you think in a different way. That can't be bad. Besides, those who are really bothered by the jokes and are that dependent on HN that they cannot live without it for a day seem to have a different problem.
access_denied 17y ago
Upvoted because with your comment the community can vote for both opinions. So far the no-jokes party is ahead 101-36.
thibaut_barrere 17y ago
And the real hacker is probably ok if (s)he has to recreate his own bayes-powered HN derivative anyway :)
- jthyme 17y ago
  The real hacker wouldn't call himself a 'hacker'.
deleted 17y ago
[deleted]
raganwald 17y ago
Also, please flag anything you don't consider hacker news. The mods will do the rest. We won't be offended if an article we like is killed. If there are so many that the mods are offended, I'm sure they'll let us know.
bobbyi 17y ago
I agree in general, but the internet April Fool's thing is beyond lame. It wasn't funny on slashdot in 2001 and it hasn't gotten better since.

dear hn: please don't ask the rest of us to not submit stories that you personally don't enjoy. just don't read them. regards, the reasonable people

by hubb 17y ago

dear hn: please don't ask the rest of us to not submit stories that you personally don't enjoy. just don't read them. regards, the reasonable people

mechanical_fish 17y ago

just don't read them If only they came with labels. Unfortunately, the hallmark of a web-based April Fool story is that it comes clothed as a real story. They're deliberately crafted to sucker you in and convince you to read two to six paragraphs before you figure out that they're made of lies. In other words, April Fool's Day is a linkbait competition. I think that's why it has worn out its welcome for so many people. Linkbait used to be more funny when it was rare. Now it's like celebrating Mosquito Day, or Spam Email Day. Yours would be a reasonable suggestion if every April Fool story was submitted with a prominent label reading [APRIL FOOL]. But that would spoil the fun, wouldn't it? If there's anything less fun than an April Fool story, it's an inartful April Fool story. Frankly I think Google raised the bar years ago when they announced Gmail on April 1. I no longer think an April Fool story is any good unless it (a) sounds like an obvious April Fool joke but (b) is 100% true.

cj 17y ago
April Fool's Day is a linkbait competition. Lighten up! It's only 24 hours. I think we can all survive.
- KirinDave 17y ago
  No. You are making the site worse. When someone asks you to stop you say, “Lighten up! You'll live. It's only 24 hours.” This dodges the core issue: most people don't want that bullshit here. If you want that bullshit, there are many other news sites that will cater to your need for bullshit.
- asolove 17y ago
  Indeed. I keep thinking: if only there were some distributed way to determine which stories people thought should be voted up and which they thought should be voted down...
kmt 17y ago
Not all of them need labels. For example: Google Acquires the Internal Revenue Service. This is all recreational. But it sometimes also gives you perspective. Makes you think in a different way. That can't be bad. Besides, those who are really bothered by the jokes and are that dependent on HN that they cannot live without it for a day seem to have a different problem.

access_denied 17y ago

Upvoted because with your comment the community can vote for both opinions. So far the no-jokes party is ahead 101-36.

thibaut_barrere 17y ago

And the real hacker is probably ok if (s)he has to recreate his own bayes-powered HN derivative anyway :)

jthyme 17y ago
The real hacker wouldn't call himself a 'hacker'.

deleted 17y ago

[deleted]

raganwald 17y ago

Also, please flag anything you don't consider hacker news. The mods will do the rest. We won't be offended if an article we like is killed. If there are so many that the mods are offended, I'm sure they'll let us know.

bobbyi 17y ago

I agree in general, but the internet April Fool's thing is beyond lame. It wasn't funny on slashdot in 2001 and it hasn't gotten better since.