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I would certainly be not against some external entity or random event shutting HN down. That would lead to genesis of new communities and contribute to spreadin

by vdaniuk 12y ago

I would certainly be not against some external entity or random event shutting HN down. That would lead to genesis of new communities and contribute to spreading the influence to several or dozens of separate entities. Ironically, voice of the hackers, the independents, the non-affiliated is weak here. The voice of the tech establishment, the VCs, the startups, the megacorps is heard loud and clear. Do you not see how HN is crucial for YC continued success as the VC company? YC doesn't have to censor anything, the increased presence of YC alumni defines the narrative. I do not believe that it is healthy for most important tech community on the open internet to be so strongly influenced by one VC company. Disclosures would help a little bit. edit I don't mind the downvotes :)

tptacek 12y ago
Charming. The "external entity or random event" part of that comment is what really sold it. You're all class.
- vdaniuk 12y ago
  Yeah, because surely YC would give up one of their most important generators of competitive advantage willingly. Also, ofc, with you being one of the top HN members would not support that. I don't have any personal benefit from any outcome, but you do. Who is all class now? edit: I am curious, in what way, shape or form "external entity or random event" part of my comment is related to either presence or lack of my class? Care to elaborate?
  - tptacek 12y ago
    It'll be amusing to watch you try to build an intellectually coherent narrative out of (a) insulting strangers for supposed conflicts of interest, as if it was possible to do that without directly questioning their integrity, and (b) openly suggesting that coercive force be used to shut down a forum that happens to host arguments you don't agree with.
    - vdaniuk 12y ago
      You are being disingenuous. (a) "A conflict of interest is a set of circumstances that creates a risk that professional judgement or actions regarding a primary interest will be unduly influenced by a secondary interest." "The conflict in a conflict of interest exists whether or not a particular individual is actually influenced by the secondary interest. It exists if the circumstances are reasonably believed (on the basis of past experience and objective evidence) to create a risk that decisions may be unduly influenced by secondary interests." It is reasonable to believe that a person discussing his employer on public forum creates a RISK that his posting decisions MAY be unduly influenced. Stating that a conflict of interest exists doesn't question the integrity of the person per se. I am not sure why would you choose a COI definition that is easily disproven by Wikipedia. (b) Simple. That is not what I said. "suggesting that coercive force to be used to shut down" != "[to] be not against some external entity or random event shutting down". And finally, (c). You were the one going full ad hominem without addressing anything in my original argument. I don't get your motivation, though. It is obvious that HN is skewed in UX/UI and in the discussion contents in the favor of YC and YC alumni. That's the point. What is your reason to be aggressive about that?
      - tptacek 12y ago
        I stand by what I said and don't see any need for us to continue talking.
celticninja 12y ago
YC censors plenty on HN, especially negative stuff linked to YC alumni or startups. I posted something the other day about the myo and i got a error page everytime I submitted it. tried submitting something else and bang it goes straight through. I dont care that they censor stuff but that they are underhand and sneaky about it gives me pause for thought when I see content on here from YC startups, was it pushed to the front page artificially? Probably. Best to err on the side of caution and assume that it is just YC trying to sell me on their latest startup.
- dang 12y ago
  > YC censors plenty on HN, especially negative stuff linked to YC alumni or startups. No, we don't do that. We actually take care to penalize stories less when they are negative about YC or YC-funded startups, and none of the HN software takes YC-related material into account. I mention the latter because what you're describing sounds like it was done by the software. There must have been some other problem with your post. If you provide a link we'll be happy to look into it for you.
  - celticninja 12y ago
    http://hackaday.com/2014/11/18/thalmic-labs-shuts-down-free-developer-access/ http://hackaday.com/2014/11/18/thalmic-labs-shuts-down-free-... This was the link that I tried to post, I submitted it 9 days ago when I subsequently posted another Myo link to the offical website which was allowed to stay up. I tried to post 3 times each time it just disappeared and threw me back to the submission page. I then tried to make another submission, one about a drone being used by an estate agent, which went through fine, then I submitted a direct link to the Myo site which also went through fine. So I tried my original link again and got the same 'error'. Interestingly enough if you look at the original article I tried to submit there is a line that says: "Quick aside, but if you want to see how nearly every form of media is crooked, try submitting this to Hacker News and look at the Thalmic investors. Edit: don’t bother, we’re blacklisted or something." So evidently others had a similar experience to me whislt trying to submit the story.
    - 12y ago

by vdaniuk 12y ago

tptacek 12y ago

Charming. The "external entity or random event" part of that comment is what really sold it. You're all class.

vdaniuk 12y ago
Yeah, because surely YC would give up one of their most important generators of competitive advantage willingly. Also, ofc, with you being one of the top HN members would not support that. I don't have any personal benefit from any outcome, but you do. Who is all class now? edit: I am curious, in what way, shape or form "external entity or random event" part of my comment is related to either presence or lack of my class? Care to elaborate?
- tptacek 12y ago
  It'll be amusing to watch you try to build an intellectually coherent narrative out of (a) insulting strangers for supposed conflicts of interest, as if it was possible to do that without directly questioning their integrity, and (b) openly suggesting that coercive force be used to shut down a forum that happens to host arguments you don't agree with.
  - vdaniuk 12y ago
    You are being disingenuous. (a) "A conflict of interest is a set of circumstances that creates a risk that professional judgement or actions regarding a primary interest will be unduly influenced by a secondary interest." "The conflict in a conflict of interest exists whether or not a particular individual is actually influenced by the secondary interest. It exists if the circumstances are reasonably believed (on the basis of past experience and objective evidence) to create a risk that decisions may be unduly influenced by secondary interests." It is reasonable to believe that a person discussing his employer on public forum creates a RISK that his posting decisions MAY be unduly influenced. Stating that a conflict of interest exists doesn't question the integrity of the person per se. I am not sure why would you choose a COI definition that is easily disproven by Wikipedia. (b) Simple. That is not what I said. "suggesting that coercive force to be used to shut down" != "[to] be not against some external entity or random event shutting down". And finally, (c). You were the one going full ad hominem without addressing anything in my original argument. I don't get your motivation, though. It is obvious that HN is skewed in UX/UI and in the discussion contents in the favor of YC and YC alumni. That's the point. What is your reason to be aggressive about that?
    - tptacek 12y ago
      I stand by what I said and don't see any need for us to continue talking.

celticninja 12y ago

YC censors plenty on HN, especially negative stuff linked to YC alumni or startups. I posted something the other day about the myo and i got a error page everytime I submitted it. tried submitting something else and bang it goes straight through. I dont care that they censor stuff but that they are underhand and sneaky about it gives me pause for thought when I see content on here from YC startups, was it pushed to the front page artificially? Probably. Best to err on the side of caution and assume that it is just YC trying to sell me on their latest startup.

dang 12y ago
> YC censors plenty on HN, especially negative stuff linked to YC alumni or startups. No, we don't do that. We actually take care to penalize stories less when they are negative about YC or YC-funded startups, and none of the HN software takes YC-related material into account. I mention the latter because what you're describing sounds like it was done by the software. There must have been some other problem with your post. If you provide a link we'll be happy to look into it for you.
- celticninja 12y ago
  http://hackaday.com/2014/11/18/thalmic-labs-shuts-down-free-developer-access/ http://hackaday.com/2014/11/18/thalmic-labs-shuts-down-free-... This was the link that I tried to post, I submitted it 9 days ago when I subsequently posted another Myo link to the offical website which was allowed to stay up. I tried to post 3 times each time it just disappeared and threw me back to the submission page. I then tried to make another submission, one about a drone being used by an estate agent, which went through fine, then I submitted a direct link to the Myo site which also went through fine. So I tried my original link again and got the same 'error'. Interestingly enough if you look at the original article I tried to submit there is a line that says: "Quick aside, but if you want to see how nearly every form of media is crooked, try submitting this to Hacker News and look at the Thalmic investors. Edit: don’t bother, we’re blacklisted or something." So evidently others had a similar experience to me whislt trying to submit the story.
  - 12y ago