4 ms·

Just wondering: what does the [scribd] mean in the title? I thought this was a warning for the poor usability and difficulty to download from site http://www.s

Just wondering: what does the [scribd] mean in the title? I thought this was a warning for the poor usability and difficulty to download from site http://www.scribd.com http://www.scribd.com. This links directly to a pdf, so wouldn't a [pdf] tag be better? I've noticed this on a bunch of posts recently.

judk 13y ago
It's a HN auto-tag, to promote a Scribd, a YC company.
- cfqycwz 13y ago
  More specifically, it's actually a link to a copy of the same pdf hosted on scribd, the intention being to offer a means of viewing the pdf that's less cumbersome than Adobe Reader.
  - jimktrains2 13y ago
    Interesting. I never clicked on it so I never noticed it was an additional link! I've never liked the scribd interface, but what's more is that Chrome and FF have their own, decent, pdf viewers which are light-years better than either the scribd or adobe viewers. I wonder how much HN gets to put that link there.
    - icebraining 13y ago
      HN is owned by YCombinator. Scribd was founded under the YCombinator program. There's really not much to it.
      - jimktrains2 13y ago
        I never see any other links like that for YC companies (and there are a lot of YC companies) on HN; that's why I was curious. Aside: Why can I respond to you and not cmelbye?
        ics 13y ago
        > Why can I respond to you and not cmelbye? There is a timer on new posts before anyone can reply. It's to force people to think a little before they post and is pretty effective in rate-limiting flamewars.
    - davidw 13y ago
      Not a scribd fan , but to be fair, they have been around longer than FF and chrome PDF viewers have.
    - cmelbye 13y ago
      What? You think Scribd pays their investor to promote their product? Isn't it much more likely that their investor is promoting the product they invested in for free?
  - _pmf_ 13y ago
    I couldn't think of a way to make Scribd's user experience any less enjoyable. I usually give up after the 3rd page hangs and navigation and even reloading fail.
  - jessaustin 13y ago
    scribd may be the only means of viewing a pdf more cumbersome than Adobe Reader.
- SilasX 13y ago
  I always took it as a warning that "this will be a hassle to access".
deleted 13y ago
[deleted]

judk 13y ago

It's a HN auto-tag, to promote a Scribd, a YC company.

cfqycwz 13y ago
More specifically, it's actually a link to a copy of the same pdf hosted on scribd, the intention being to offer a means of viewing the pdf that's less cumbersome than Adobe Reader.
- jimktrains2 13y ago
  Interesting. I never clicked on it so I never noticed it was an additional link! I've never liked the scribd interface, but what's more is that Chrome and FF have their own, decent, pdf viewers which are light-years better than either the scribd or adobe viewers. I wonder how much HN gets to put that link there.
  - icebraining 13y ago
    HN is owned by YCombinator. Scribd was founded under the YCombinator program. There's really not much to it.
    - jimktrains2 13y ago
      I never see any other links like that for YC companies (and there are a lot of YC companies) on HN; that's why I was curious. Aside: Why can I respond to you and not cmelbye?
      - ics 13y ago
        > Why can I respond to you and not cmelbye? There is a timer on new posts before anyone can reply. It's to force people to think a little before they post and is pretty effective in rate-limiting flamewars.
  - davidw 13y ago
    Not a scribd fan , but to be fair, they have been around longer than FF and chrome PDF viewers have.
  - cmelbye 13y ago
    What? You think Scribd pays their investor to promote their product? Isn't it much more likely that their investor is promoting the product they invested in for free?
- _pmf_ 13y ago
  I couldn't think of a way to make Scribd's user experience any less enjoyable. I usually give up after the 3rd page hangs and navigation and even reloading fail.
- jessaustin 13y ago
  scribd may be the only means of viewing a pdf more cumbersome than Adobe Reader.
SilasX 13y ago
I always took it as a warning that "this will be a hassle to access".

deleted 13y ago

[deleted]