3 ms·

Popular in: 2023 (1164 points, 198 comments) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37576633 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37576633 2020 (1034 points, 13

by gnabgib 9mo ago

Popular in: 2023 (1164 points, 198 comments) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37576633 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37576633 2020 (1034 points, 136 comments) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23775404 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23775404 2015 (915 points, 140 comments) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9338708 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9338708

dang 9mo ago
You guys beat me to it - I was working on the list! Btw for those wondering about reposts: reposts on HN are just fine after a year or so (https://news.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html), and reposts of classics every now and then are good because it's important for new users to learn the classics! Can an email go 500 miles in 2025? - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44466030 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44466030 - July 2025 (122 comments) Can’t send email more than 500 miles (2002) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37576633 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37576633 - Sept 2023 (198 comments) The case of the 500-mile email (2002) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29213064 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29213064 - Nov 2021 (93 comments) We can't send email more than 500 miles (2002) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23775404 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23775404 - July 2020 (135 comments) 500 miles (2002) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18675375 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18675375 - Dec 2018 (32 comments) We can't send mail more than 500 miles - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17602158 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17602158 - July 2018 (1 comment) The case of the 500-mile email (2002) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14676835 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14676835 - July 2017 (56 comments) Every time we lift a pallet from the shipping room, the server times out (2006) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13347058 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13347058 - Jan 2017 (82 comments) The case of the 500-mile email - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10305377 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10305377 - Sept 2015 (1 comment) The 500-mile email (2002) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9338708 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9338708 - April 2015 (139 comments) The case of the 500-mile email - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2701063 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2701063 - June 2011 (18 comments) The case of the 500-mile email - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1293652 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1293652 - April 2010 (24 comments) The case of the 500-mile email - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=385068 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=385068 - Dec 2008 (28 comments) The case of the 500-mile email - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=123489 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=123489 - Feb 2008 (7 comments)
- Abh1Works 9mo ago
  I can say that a new user (me) did learn the classic (this).
  - Leptonmaniac 9mo ago
    Congratulations! You are one of today's ten thousand! Relevant XKCD: https://xkcd.com/1053/ https://xkcd.com/1053/
    - nakedneuron 9mo ago
      It's classics all the way down.
- davidcollantes 9mo ago
  > Btw for those wondering about reposts: reposts on HN are just fine after a year or so (https://news.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html), and reposts of classics every now and then are good because it's important for new users to learn the classics! It would be nice if HN would simply "float" to the front page the classics, a year or two after their submission. That would avoid duplication (specially of comments!), and allow people in the lucky 10,000 group know about it.
  - dang 9mo ago
    I hear you from a technical point of view (deduplication!) but I think the chaos and ferment have creative qualities too.
- efreak 9mo ago
  Pallet from the shipping room is a different story, though this one is mentioned in the comments
bobjordan 9mo ago
These kind of posts are why I check HN pretty much every day for 15+ yrs now. Hard to believe I've missed this one. Glad I caught it this time! This posts reminds me to stay humble and avoid jumping to conclusions without analysis.
- otherme123 9mo ago
  One of the lucky 10,000! https://xkcd.com/1053/ https://xkcd.com/1053/
  - oofbey 9mo ago
    Such a refreshingly good attitude!
  - cantalopes 9mo ago
    I was one of the lucky ones today
  - Semaphor 9mo ago
    I think I’ve been one of those 2 or 3 times for this story. Read it, forgot it, read it again and only remembered after some time :D
- throwrg25 9mo ago
  [dead]
- PunchyHamster 9mo ago
  That story has been repeated in various places for decades now.
IG_Semmelweiss 9mo ago
I wonder when we will see a timeless classic like this on HN, but for AI. We can then poke some fun at what AI did, what went wrong, and our incredibly illogical "debug" of AI
- varjag 9mo ago
  AI bots on dead internet will bring them up and have an earnest metallic laughter together.
BadBadJellyBean 9mo ago
And still a treat. I love that story.
teekert 9mo ago
I believe I'm up for submitting it in a couple of months.
mcv 9mo ago
I thought it sounded familiar. Still a good read.
wkjagt 9mo ago
This gets posted just infrequently enough that I remember that I've read it before but forget why those emails weren't delivered, so I read it every time :-)
- mbac32768 9mo ago
  Every time see this story I think "oh, this is the story about the packet TTLs being set stupidly low or something but you wouldn't be able to narrow that exactly to 500 miles" and have to click and learn again the the first time it's about the connection timeout being set stupidly low.

by gnabgib 9mo ago

dang 9mo ago

You guys beat me to it - I was working on the list! Btw for those wondering about reposts: reposts on HN are just fine after a year or so (https://news.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html), and reposts of classics every now and then are good because it's important for new users to learn the classics! Can an email go 500 miles in 2025? - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44466030 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44466030 - July 2025 (122 comments) Can’t send email more than 500 miles (2002) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37576633 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37576633 - Sept 2023 (198 comments) The case of the 500-mile email (2002) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29213064 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29213064 - Nov 2021 (93 comments) We can't send email more than 500 miles (2002) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23775404 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23775404 - July 2020 (135 comments) 500 miles (2002) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18675375 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18675375 - Dec 2018 (32 comments) We can't send mail more than 500 miles - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17602158 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17602158 - July 2018 (1 comment) The case of the 500-mile email (2002) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14676835 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14676835 - July 2017 (56 comments) Every time we lift a pallet from the shipping room, the server times out (2006) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13347058 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13347058 - Jan 2017 (82 comments) The case of the 500-mile email - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10305377 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10305377 - Sept 2015 (1 comment) The 500-mile email (2002) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9338708 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9338708 - April 2015 (139 comments) The case of the 500-mile email - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2701063 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2701063 - June 2011 (18 comments) The case of the 500-mile email - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1293652 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1293652 - April 2010 (24 comments) The case of the 500-mile email - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=385068 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=385068 - Dec 2008 (28 comments) The case of the 500-mile email - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=123489 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=123489 - Feb 2008 (7 comments)

Abh1Works 9mo ago
I can say that a new user (me) did learn the classic (this).
- Leptonmaniac 9mo ago
  Congratulations! You are one of today's ten thousand! Relevant XKCD: https://xkcd.com/1053/ https://xkcd.com/1053/
  - nakedneuron 9mo ago
    It's classics all the way down.
davidcollantes 9mo ago
> Btw for those wondering about reposts: reposts on HN are just fine after a year or so (https://news.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html), and reposts of classics every now and then are good because it's important for new users to learn the classics! It would be nice if HN would simply "float" to the front page the classics, a year or two after their submission. That would avoid duplication (specially of comments!), and allow people in the lucky 10,000 group know about it.
- dang 9mo ago
  I hear you from a technical point of view (deduplication!) but I think the chaos and ferment have creative qualities too.
efreak 9mo ago
Pallet from the shipping room is a different story, though this one is mentioned in the comments

bobjordan 9mo ago

These kind of posts are why I check HN pretty much every day for 15+ yrs now. Hard to believe I've missed this one. Glad I caught it this time! This posts reminds me to stay humble and avoid jumping to conclusions without analysis.

otherme123 9mo ago
One of the lucky 10,000! https://xkcd.com/1053/ https://xkcd.com/1053/
- oofbey 9mo ago
  Such a refreshingly good attitude!
- cantalopes 9mo ago
  I was one of the lucky ones today
- Semaphor 9mo ago
  I think I’ve been one of those 2 or 3 times for this story. Read it, forgot it, read it again and only remembered after some time :D
throwrg25 9mo ago
[dead]
PunchyHamster 9mo ago
That story has been repeated in various places for decades now.

IG_Semmelweiss 9mo ago

I wonder when we will see a timeless classic like this on HN, but for AI. We can then poke some fun at what AI did, what went wrong, and our incredibly illogical "debug" of AI

varjag 9mo ago
AI bots on dead internet will bring them up and have an earnest metallic laughter together.

BadBadJellyBean 9mo ago

And still a treat. I love that story.

teekert 9mo ago

I believe I'm up for submitting it in a couple of months.

mcv 9mo ago

I thought it sounded familiar. Still a good read.

wkjagt 9mo ago

This gets posted just infrequently enough that I remember that I've read it before but forget why those emails weren't delivered, so I read it every time :-)

mbac32768 9mo ago
Every time see this story I think "oh, this is the story about the packet TTLs being set stupidly low or something but you wouldn't be able to narrow that exactly to 500 miles" and have to click and learn again the the first time it's about the connection timeout being set stupidly low.