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Semi-OT: I really don't like HN being used for quirky historical curiosities (like those found in every atlasobscura.com submission). I want to downvote these,

by SilasX 7y ago

Semi-OT: I really don't like HN being used for quirky historical curiosities (like those found in every atlasobscura.com submission). I want to downvote these, but can't, and I don't think they rise to the level of deserving being flagged. What should I do?

lstamour 7y ago
Upvote or submit other stories you’d prefer to see rise to the top, then. It might be possible to filter out submissions from certain domains yourself using a browser extension, similar to how you can filter Google by domain in search results using a personal blacklist extension.
itronitron 7y ago
The irony here is that the literary prank described is in some ways a parody of the quirky historical articles you don't like. So you might actually like this article. I found it quite interesting and it wouldn't surprise me if Thomas Pynchon had some exposure to it before he wrote his major works.
- SilasX 7y ago
  I like articles about Dance Dance Revolution too, but I don't want HN to become a DDR site.
  - wolfi1 7y ago
    this is in no way a piece about the GDR
cryptoz 7y ago
I think these posts are the #1 encouraged kind of item to submit to HN when you read the newsguidelines. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html So I think it is your expectation with HN that may need to change, as I would be shocked to see this content disappear. It's exactly "On-Topic: Anything that good hackers would find interesting. That includes more than hacking and startups.", the first sentence of the guidelines.
- SilasX 7y ago
  That means things that hackers as hackers would find interesting. There’s significant overlap between hackers and “men who could benefit from dating advice” but that doesn’t make dating advice topical. The same logic applies to historical curiosities.
  - whatshisface 7y ago
    I think some dating advice made it to the front page a while ago, it was a link to someone's wiki of life lessons.
  - dang 7y ago
    You're interpreting the guidelines too narrowly. Historical material has always been welcome here: https://hn.algolia.com/?sort=byDate&dateRange=all&type=comment&storyText=false&prefix=false&page=0&query=by:dang%20"historical%20material" https://hn.algolia.com/?sort=byDate&dateRange=all&type=comme.... One way of looking at this is that the contours were originally defined by what pg's own intellectual curiosity (https://news.ycombinator.com/hackernews.html https://news.ycombinator.com/hackernews.html). He knows more about history than probably anyone I've ever met.
    - SilasX 7y ago
      Sure, I guess what bothers me more is how indiscriminate it is, like how Atlas Obscura just gets fast tracked to the point that it (and related oh-so-clever) stories make up a disproportional share of the links.
DanBC 7y ago
Visit new and upvote submissions you like. Submit articles you think should be here. Accept that good articles about history are firmly on-topic for HN, and you're going to have to do some ignoring of those submissions. I can't speak for the mods but here are some posts dang made 5 years ago. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7616566#7617402 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7616566#7617402 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7712692#7713447 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7712692#7713447 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7830805#7832079 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7830805#7832079 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7493856#7494538 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7493856#7494538
liability 7y ago
Use an RSS reader and filter the domains you dislike. This is hacker news, is it not? Pro-tip: naive bayesian classification on headlines works pretty well.
- SilasX 7y ago
  Read discussions before you join them so posters don’t have to make the same reply twice: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20788910 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20788910
  - liability 7y ago
    > https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20788910 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20788910 Lad, I have absolutely no clue what Bayesian classification in an RSS reader has to do with dance games.
    - SilasX 7y ago
      The point was that it’s more than just an issue of what I personally see but the topic drift of the site. And please be respectful.
      - liability 7y ago
        Is it respectful to make demands of what other people discuss, instead of simple [automated] avoidance of topics you personally have no interest in? I have no interest in that sort of respect.
        SilasX 7y ago
        Respectful: 1) Suggesting that a certain topic drifts from the core mission and should be avoided on that basis. 2) Asking for input on what to do about 1), if anything. Not respectful: 3) Addressing someone as “lad”. 4) Not checking for whether someone made your same comment before posting it. 5) Making no effort to understand a comment and then dismissing as irrelevant. 6) mischaracterizing 1-2 as demands that would wholly be satisfied by client-side filtering. I think I did the respectful things on that list, while you did the non-respectful things. Could you work on that?

by SilasX 7y ago

lstamour 7y ago

Upvote or submit other stories you’d prefer to see rise to the top, then. It might be possible to filter out submissions from certain domains yourself using a browser extension, similar to how you can filter Google by domain in search results using a personal blacklist extension.

itronitron 7y ago

The irony here is that the literary prank described is in some ways a parody of the quirky historical articles you don't like. So you might actually like this article. I found it quite interesting and it wouldn't surprise me if Thomas Pynchon had some exposure to it before he wrote his major works.

SilasX 7y ago
I like articles about Dance Dance Revolution too, but I don't want HN to become a DDR site.
- wolfi1 7y ago
  this is in no way a piece about the GDR

cryptoz 7y ago

I think these posts are the #1 encouraged kind of item to submit to HN when you read the newsguidelines. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html So I think it is your expectation with HN that may need to change, as I would be shocked to see this content disappear. It's exactly "On-Topic: Anything that good hackers would find interesting. That includes more than hacking and startups.", the first sentence of the guidelines.

SilasX 7y ago
That means things that hackers as hackers would find interesting. There’s significant overlap between hackers and “men who could benefit from dating advice” but that doesn’t make dating advice topical. The same logic applies to historical curiosities.
- whatshisface 7y ago
  I think some dating advice made it to the front page a while ago, it was a link to someone's wiki of life lessons.
- dang 7y ago
  You're interpreting the guidelines too narrowly. Historical material has always been welcome here: https://hn.algolia.com/?sort=byDate&dateRange=all&type=comment&storyText=false&prefix=false&page=0&query=by:dang%20"historical%20material" https://hn.algolia.com/?sort=byDate&dateRange=all&type=comme.... One way of looking at this is that the contours were originally defined by what pg's own intellectual curiosity (https://news.ycombinator.com/hackernews.html https://news.ycombinator.com/hackernews.html). He knows more about history than probably anyone I've ever met.
  - SilasX 7y ago
    Sure, I guess what bothers me more is how indiscriminate it is, like how Atlas Obscura just gets fast tracked to the point that it (and related oh-so-clever) stories make up a disproportional share of the links.

DanBC 7y ago

Visit new and upvote submissions you like. Submit articles you think should be here. Accept that good articles about history are firmly on-topic for HN, and you're going to have to do some ignoring of those submissions. I can't speak for the mods but here are some posts dang made 5 years ago. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7616566#7617402 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7616566#7617402 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7712692#7713447 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7712692#7713447 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7830805#7832079 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7830805#7832079 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7493856#7494538 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7493856#7494538

liability 7y ago

Use an RSS reader and filter the domains you dislike. This is hacker news, is it not? Pro-tip: naive bayesian classification on headlines works pretty well.

SilasX 7y ago
Read discussions before you join them so posters don’t have to make the same reply twice: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20788910 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20788910
- liability 7y ago
  > https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20788910 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20788910 Lad, I have absolutely no clue what Bayesian classification in an RSS reader has to do with dance games.
  - SilasX 7y ago
    The point was that it’s more than just an issue of what I personally see but the topic drift of the site. And please be respectful.
    - liability 7y ago
      Is it respectful to make demands of what other people discuss, instead of simple [automated] avoidance of topics you personally have no interest in? I have no interest in that sort of respect.
      - SilasX 7y ago
        Respectful: 1) Suggesting that a certain topic drifts from the core mission and should be avoided on that basis. 2) Asking for input on what to do about 1), if anything. Not respectful: 3) Addressing someone as “lad”. 4) Not checking for whether someone made your same comment before posting it. 5) Making no effort to understand a comment and then dismissing as irrelevant. 6) mischaracterizing 1-2 as demands that would wholly be satisfied by client-side filtering. I think I did the respectful things on that list, while you did the non-respectful things. Could you work on that?