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Unrelated, but having had to log in, I'm now reminded of a VZW security issue: Can someone explain the doubtless backward and sloppy thinking that would convin

Unrelated, but having had to log in, I'm now reminded of a VZW security issue: Can someone explain the doubtless backward and sloppy thinking that would convince Verizon that they should forbid their users from including symbols in their passwords?

andrewljohnson 14y ago
I've taken to flagging all comments like this. I don't think it even remotely adds to the discussion to pick some usability issue and harp on it. These kind of comments crop up for every story. Easy way to score points, not useful, buries better comments. I think a good rule of thumb is that if you didn't need to read the article to make a comment, it's not a good comment.
- danilocampos 14y ago
  Welp, A: Mazal tov. I enjoy the magical thinking that makes your meta comment more valuable than my meta comment. B: This isn't a usability issue. This is a security issue. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Password_strength http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Password_strength C: It's not an "article." It's a tweet. So we don't have a lot of deep meaty content to work with here. Are you a bot? Did you read it?
- Bud 14y ago
  You're way out of line flagging this, in my opinion. It's a security issue, and a big one at that. I also see no reason to believe that the user is attempting to "score points". Lastly, the comment is in fact quite useful.
  - tomrod 14y ago
    I agree wholeheartedly with this. We're supposed to be the good guys--revealing security issues should be something that gets heavily rewarded with karma.
- nitrogen 14y ago
  Be very wary of flagging. I believe (corrections welcome) it can result in an entire account being invisi-banned without notice to the user. Should be reserved for the most egregious offenses, with downvoting used for the rest.
- MichaelApproved 14y ago
  That's exactly what the down-vote is meant for. If you think a comment is off-topic, down vote the post and perhaps add a comment as to why you think it deserves to be down-voted. Flagging is expensive, in that it requires mod (human) attention. It should be reserved for spam and other egregious posts. Let the mods spend their valuable time on more important tasks.
  - andrewljohnson 14y ago
    I wasn't aware that flags required moderator attention. I assumed that once an article was flagged enough times, a mod would be alerted, but not that each flag would trigger an alert. I would very much like to get moderators' attention or feedback on this. I don't think these kind of comments should be banned, but I think they would be curbed if there was a community guideline.
    - MichaelApproved 14y ago
      Good point. I don't know how the HN software is written but my guess is that when it's time to take action (X number of flags), it's something a looks at. There could be a level of automation built into this where X number of high reputation members flag something, it could automatically be banned. Either way, I think flagging is more fitting to abuse than off-topic. I agree with you that it would be great to get a mod to weigh in on this.
  - AngryParsley 14y ago
    Do moderators actually go through all flagged items? If so, that would probably explain why I can't flag anymore. I assumed flagging was automated, so I basically used it as down-vote for articles. I emailed info@yc about my lack of flagging ability a couple months back. They said nothing was wrong with my account. Now I feel bad that I wasted someone's time. :(
    - MichaelApproved 14y ago
      I should have been more clear that I was speculating that a flag ultimately required mod attention. I'm going based on personal experience with forums and software development.
whatshisface 14y ago
This is to prevent users from creating passwords they cannot remember. It could very well be true that having a streamlined password recovery system (weak to social engineering) is less secure than having easy-to-remember easy-to-guess passwords.

andrewljohnson 14y ago

I've taken to flagging all comments like this. I don't think it even remotely adds to the discussion to pick some usability issue and harp on it. These kind of comments crop up for every story. Easy way to score points, not useful, buries better comments. I think a good rule of thumb is that if you didn't need to read the article to make a comment, it's not a good comment.

danilocampos 14y ago
Welp, A: Mazal tov. I enjoy the magical thinking that makes your meta comment more valuable than my meta comment. B: This isn't a usability issue. This is a security issue. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Password_strength http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Password_strength C: It's not an "article." It's a tweet. So we don't have a lot of deep meaty content to work with here. Are you a bot? Did you read it?
Bud 14y ago
You're way out of line flagging this, in my opinion. It's a security issue, and a big one at that. I also see no reason to believe that the user is attempting to "score points". Lastly, the comment is in fact quite useful.
- tomrod 14y ago
  I agree wholeheartedly with this. We're supposed to be the good guys--revealing security issues should be something that gets heavily rewarded with karma.
nitrogen 14y ago
Be very wary of flagging. I believe (corrections welcome) it can result in an entire account being invisi-banned without notice to the user. Should be reserved for the most egregious offenses, with downvoting used for the rest.
MichaelApproved 14y ago
That's exactly what the down-vote is meant for. If you think a comment is off-topic, down vote the post and perhaps add a comment as to why you think it deserves to be down-voted. Flagging is expensive, in that it requires mod (human) attention. It should be reserved for spam and other egregious posts. Let the mods spend their valuable time on more important tasks.
- andrewljohnson 14y ago
  I wasn't aware that flags required moderator attention. I assumed that once an article was flagged enough times, a mod would be alerted, but not that each flag would trigger an alert. I would very much like to get moderators' attention or feedback on this. I don't think these kind of comments should be banned, but I think they would be curbed if there was a community guideline.
  - MichaelApproved 14y ago
    Good point. I don't know how the HN software is written but my guess is that when it's time to take action (X number of flags), it's something a looks at. There could be a level of automation built into this where X number of high reputation members flag something, it could automatically be banned. Either way, I think flagging is more fitting to abuse than off-topic. I agree with you that it would be great to get a mod to weigh in on this.
- AngryParsley 14y ago
  Do moderators actually go through all flagged items? If so, that would probably explain why I can't flag anymore. I assumed flagging was automated, so I basically used it as down-vote for articles. I emailed info@yc about my lack of flagging ability a couple months back. They said nothing was wrong with my account. Now I feel bad that I wasted someone's time. :(
  - MichaelApproved 14y ago
    I should have been more clear that I was speculating that a flag ultimately required mod attention. I'm going based on personal experience with forums and software development.

whatshisface 14y ago

This is to prevent users from creating passwords they cannot remember. It could very well be true that having a streamlined password recovery system (weak to social engineering) is less secure than having easy-to-remember easy-to-guess passwords.