This is an extremely important piece of information. It made me sad at first, because I'd expect that smart people (that includes dang & pg, not only the users)

This is an extremely important piece of information. It made me sad at first, because I'd expect that smart people (that includes dang & pg, not only the users) are harder to game. Nevertheless, when you take into account almost limitless resources Microsoft has, it's no wonder they managed to influence the discussion here. Specifically, HN is the main place where I hear the voices that MS completely changed, that they have nothing to do with their misbehavior from the 90s - which seems a bit naïve at least. In any case, it's good to remember that whenever any MS-related topic comes up.