5 ms·

So useless and not interesting! How did this finish first on HN compared to more interesting topics?

iudqnolq 7y ago
If you really want to know, it was totally unfair dictatorial overreach. I got an email from dang: > [original_posting] looks good, but didn't get much attention. Would you care to repost it? You can do so here: [repost_link]. > ... the software will give the repost an upvote from the mods, plus we'll make sure it doesn't get flagged. > This is part of an experiment in giving good HN submissions multiple chances at the front page. If you have any questions, let us know. And if you don't want these emails, sorry! Tell us and we won't do it again. As you can see, my posting started out with a whole one extra vote and thus the system was completely gamed. You were right :) /s [edit: email is real]
- shaklee3 7y ago
  I don't see how this is worse than most other things that hit the home page. It's interesting, is an in-depth article, is tech-related, and is something most people recognize. And the fact that it's not just cgi is interesting, regardless of whether you think it should be or not.
  - iudqnolq 7y ago
    That's what I thought, and why I posted it.
  - bdcravens 7y ago
    But where will tomorrow's WeWork, Uber, and Elon bashing articles go? /s
  - greatgib 7y ago
    This is just my personal opinion, but it looks more bullshit marketing speech than interesting technical content this article. First part until the numbers is clearly marketing bullshit blabla: "the logo of windows (speaking in fact only of the wallpaper...) is the most important thing in the world, it saves kittens and perform heart surgery..." Then, long text to say: we took a colored projector and black scotch and voilà. No explanation of why it would be better than doing it digitally. And most of it, the technique is far from new and they did a very basic thing with it. Some people mix lights to create images and all. My point is that if it was not related to something famous (Microsoft), no one would have cared
- sfjailbird 7y ago
  The email is real? That's a bit more interference than I would expect from HN moderators. You are basically letting your personal tastes govern what gets preferential treatment.
  - iudqnolq 7y ago
    That's what moderation is. And HN is good because of moderation. The email is real. I see it as mostly Dan realizing that people might find it interesting. And the votes seem to suggest he was right.
    - greatgib 7y ago
      Thank you for your detailed reply! I'm amazed to see that it is indeed really that the ranking system was gamed. I was supposing that it was only a mix of bad algorithm and a lot of votes of windows or photography fanboys. Or something like that.
      - kick 7y ago
        The ranking system wasn't really gamed. A single extra vote doesn't do much: it won't get you onto the front page, and it won't be a deciding factor in getting you there, either, at the hour this link was posted. Throwing something back into /new isn't gaming the system, and there's no reason why 'dang shouldn't get a vote as well. At minimum it's curation, at maximum it's just a retry with 'dang upmodding it. I say this as a person who read the post, didn't like it, thought about making a snarky comment about how the first time I saw it I thought the person's screen was covered in smudges, and refrained.
  - Stratoscope 7y ago
    Instead of interference and preferential treatment, think of it as curation. There are many times that interesting stories are submitted but never happen to hit the right window on /new to get upvoted onto the front page. One of the things the mods look for is interesting articles that have been submitted by multiple people and still never made it to the front page. That is a sign that there may be community interest. My guess is that they have a script to find these articles, and then review them manually. Then they email the first person to have submitted it and ask them to re-submit. Daniel (dang) explained this in more detail on another "second chance" article earlier today: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21852627 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21852627

If you really want to know, it was totally unfair dictatorial overreach. I got an email from dang: > [original_posting] looks good, but didn't get much attention. Would you care to repost it? You can do so here: [repost_link]. > ... the software will give the repost an upvote from the mods, plus we'll make sure it doesn't get flagged. > This is part of an experiment in giving good HN submissions multiple chances at the front page. If you have any questions, let us know. And if you don't want these emails, sorry! Tell us and we won't do it again. As you can see, my posting started out with a whole one extra vote and thus the system was completely gamed. You were right :) /s [edit: email is real]

shaklee3 7y ago
I don't see how this is worse than most other things that hit the home page. It's interesting, is an in-depth article, is tech-related, and is something most people recognize. And the fact that it's not just cgi is interesting, regardless of whether you think it should be or not.
- iudqnolq 7y ago
  That's what I thought, and why I posted it.
- bdcravens 7y ago
  But where will tomorrow's WeWork, Uber, and Elon bashing articles go? /s
- greatgib 7y ago
  This is just my personal opinion, but it looks more bullshit marketing speech than interesting technical content this article. First part until the numbers is clearly marketing bullshit blabla: "the logo of windows (speaking in fact only of the wallpaper...) is the most important thing in the world, it saves kittens and perform heart surgery..." Then, long text to say: we took a colored projector and black scotch and voilà. No explanation of why it would be better than doing it digitally. And most of it, the technique is far from new and they did a very basic thing with it. Some people mix lights to create images and all. My point is that if it was not related to something famous (Microsoft), no one would have cared
sfjailbird 7y ago
The email is real? That's a bit more interference than I would expect from HN moderators. You are basically letting your personal tastes govern what gets preferential treatment.
- iudqnolq 7y ago
  That's what moderation is. And HN is good because of moderation. The email is real. I see it as mostly Dan realizing that people might find it interesting. And the votes seem to suggest he was right.
  - greatgib 7y ago
    Thank you for your detailed reply! I'm amazed to see that it is indeed really that the ranking system was gamed. I was supposing that it was only a mix of bad algorithm and a lot of votes of windows or photography fanboys. Or something like that.
    - kick 7y ago
      The ranking system wasn't really gamed. A single extra vote doesn't do much: it won't get you onto the front page, and it won't be a deciding factor in getting you there, either, at the hour this link was posted. Throwing something back into /new isn't gaming the system, and there's no reason why 'dang shouldn't get a vote as well. At minimum it's curation, at maximum it's just a retry with 'dang upmodding it. I say this as a person who read the post, didn't like it, thought about making a snarky comment about how the first time I saw it I thought the person's screen was covered in smudges, and refrained.
- Stratoscope 7y ago
  Instead of interference and preferential treatment, think of it as curation. There are many times that interesting stories are submitted but never happen to hit the right window on /new to get upvoted onto the front page. One of the things the mods look for is interesting articles that have been submitted by multiple people and still never made it to the front page. That is a sign that there may be community interest. My guess is that they have a script to find these articles, and then review them manually. Then they email the first person to have submitted it and ask them to re-submit. Daniel (dang) explained this in more detail on another "second chance" article earlier today: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21852627 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21852627