4 ms·

Off-topic but can someone please fix the lazy title? I detest misused (or omitted) apostrophes. Even better would to just change the title to match the linked a

by mttjj 7y ago

Off-topic but can someone please fix the lazy title? I detest misused (or omitted) apostrophes. Even better would to just change the title to match the linked article: "How a Hacker's Mom Broke Into a Prison—and the Warden's Computer"

dang 7y ago
Yes, fixed now. Submitters: please don't rewrite titles unless they are misleading or linkbait. This is in the site guidelines: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html. (Submitted title was "Pen testers mom breaks into a state prison and infects wardens computer")
- Wowfunhappy 7y ago
  Dang, if I may use this opportunity to ask a question about titles, is it okay to change a title because the original isn't descriptive enough within the context of Hacker News? Just to choose an example: There's a program called Retroactive which patches Aperture, iPhoto, and iTunes to work again on macOS Catalina. The project's github links to a medium article the author wrote, which is titled: > Technical Deep Dive: How does Retroactive work? If you arrive at this article from RetroActive's github, it's a fine title. But if you just see it on Hacker News and don't know what Retroactive does, the title is 100% useless noise. So when I submitted the article to HN[0], I tried to make the title more descriptive while also changing as little as possible. All I did was replace "work" with what Retroactive actually does: > Technical Deep Dive: How Does Retroactive Patch Aperture for macOS Catalina? Even though I did my best to change as little as possible, I felt quite guilty about the title change. But in hindsight, by trying to "compromise", I ended up with a title that's still really bad! The first 6 words of my 11-word title give the reader absolutely zero information. This article didn't get much attention, and I can't help wondering if the title is why (not to imply that this or any article somehow deserves attention). The title really should have been: > How Retroactive makes Aperture, iPhoto, and iTunes work again on macOS Catalina 0: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22229101 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22229101
  - dang 7y ago
    What you're talking about is fine. We could construct an argument that it's also within the site guidelines, but really the rules aren't meant to be treated so formally. The only thing I'd add is that it makes a huge difference to use language, where possible, from the article itself, rather than come up with words that aren't in the article. There's nearly always a subtitle or representative phrase that is suitable. A title that consists of the article's own language makes for a much better title than one that the submitter made up. We stick to that principle when editing titles. It's not always doable, but 90% of the time it is. In the case of 22229101, though, I'd go for the subtitle: "The technical backstory of Retroactive". It's true that it doesn't explain what Retroactive is. But it explains what the article is, and it implies that readers will find out what Retroactive is. Indeed, the very first thing you see if you click on it is "If you need to run Aperture, iPhoto, or iTunes on macOS Catalina". It's a great HN submission, so I've changed the title to that and emailed you a repost invite. p.s. I don't mind having these conversation on the site from time to time, but it's random whether we end up seeing a post like yours or not, so if you want to be sure to get a response, hn@ycombinator.com is better.
    - Wowfunhappy 7y ago
      Thank you! I have resubmitted (with that title). I will say: my concern with not defining Retroactive is that the people who'd likely be most interested in such an story (say, macOS programmers) won't be any more likely to read it than, say, SQL programmers. But maybe that's less big a deal than I think it is?
      - dang 7y ago
        That didn't work, and a bunch of users even flagged it, so let's try again with your title. I put the submission (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22454069 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22454069) in the second-chance pool (described at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11662380 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11662380).

by mttjj 7y ago

dang 7y ago

Yes, fixed now. Submitters: please don't rewrite titles unless they are misleading or linkbait. This is in the site guidelines: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html. (Submitted title was "Pen testers mom breaks into a state prison and infects wardens computer")

Wowfunhappy 7y ago
Dang, if I may use this opportunity to ask a question about titles, is it okay to change a title because the original isn't descriptive enough within the context of Hacker News? Just to choose an example: There's a program called Retroactive which patches Aperture, iPhoto, and iTunes to work again on macOS Catalina. The project's github links to a medium article the author wrote, which is titled: > Technical Deep Dive: How does Retroactive work? If you arrive at this article from RetroActive's github, it's a fine title. But if you just see it on Hacker News and don't know what Retroactive does, the title is 100% useless noise. So when I submitted the article to HN[0], I tried to make the title more descriptive while also changing as little as possible. All I did was replace "work" with what Retroactive actually does: > Technical Deep Dive: How Does Retroactive Patch Aperture for macOS Catalina? Even though I did my best to change as little as possible, I felt quite guilty about the title change. But in hindsight, by trying to "compromise", I ended up with a title that's still really bad! The first 6 words of my 11-word title give the reader absolutely zero information. This article didn't get much attention, and I can't help wondering if the title is why (not to imply that this or any article somehow deserves attention). The title really should have been: > How Retroactive makes Aperture, iPhoto, and iTunes work again on macOS Catalina 0: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22229101 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22229101
- dang 7y ago
  What you're talking about is fine. We could construct an argument that it's also within the site guidelines, but really the rules aren't meant to be treated so formally. The only thing I'd add is that it makes a huge difference to use language, where possible, from the article itself, rather than come up with words that aren't in the article. There's nearly always a subtitle or representative phrase that is suitable. A title that consists of the article's own language makes for a much better title than one that the submitter made up. We stick to that principle when editing titles. It's not always doable, but 90% of the time it is. In the case of 22229101, though, I'd go for the subtitle: "The technical backstory of Retroactive". It's true that it doesn't explain what Retroactive is. But it explains what the article is, and it implies that readers will find out what Retroactive is. Indeed, the very first thing you see if you click on it is "If you need to run Aperture, iPhoto, or iTunes on macOS Catalina". It's a great HN submission, so I've changed the title to that and emailed you a repost invite. p.s. I don't mind having these conversation on the site from time to time, but it's random whether we end up seeing a post like yours or not, so if you want to be sure to get a response, hn@ycombinator.com is better.
  - Wowfunhappy 7y ago
    Thank you! I have resubmitted (with that title). I will say: my concern with not defining Retroactive is that the people who'd likely be most interested in such an story (say, macOS programmers) won't be any more likely to read it than, say, SQL programmers. But maybe that's less big a deal than I think it is?
    - dang 7y ago
      That didn't work, and a bunch of users even flagged it, so let's try again with your title. I put the submission (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22454069 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22454069) in the second-chance pool (described at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11662380 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11662380).