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I mostly just lurk on HN... but occasionally I wish I had the time to post more regularly. Just so I could build up enough karma points to have downvote privile

I mostly just lurk on HN... but occasionally I wish I had the time to post more regularly. Just so I could build up enough karma points to have downvote privileges for stuff like this.

henpa 12y ago
Ditto, but on your post.
skrebbel 12y ago
Consider saying why you'd downvote this instead of bitching and maybe you'd actually get those karma points.
- StevePerkins 12y ago
  There was a very active thread yesterday (400+ comments), titled "Cultivated Disinterest in Professional Sports" (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8972179 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8972179). TL;DR: The article was basically a critique of people like the parent commenter. In the thread that followed, I came down on the side of those who agreed with the article. So I would downvote parent for two reasons: (1) Attempting to twist a thread about the Pirate Bay into a thread about the Super Bowl and "'Murica" is pretentious in the extreme even without Latin, and (2) I disagree with the popular premise that downloading Game of Thrones and porn == "fighting authoritarian governments". I realize that this makes me a minority here, to the point of possibly being considered a troll for admitting it. Which is one reason why I don't bother posting more, which in turn is one reason why HN is so "hivemind-ish" on many subjects.
  - vezzy-fnord 12y ago
    I realize that this makes me a minority here, to the point of possibly being considered a troll for admitting it. You do come off as a troll, not so much because you oppose TPB, but because of the blatant straw man you use to characterize it. The main advantage that permissive torrent trackers carry is that they serve as vast cultural archives. No, consuming media is not necessary for survival, but should poverty condemn you to cultural illiteracy?
  - ObviousScience 12y ago
    For the record, I downvoted you both for posting insubstantial comments that are basically throwing out an opinion with nothing of substance, while I upvoted this one for talking about relevant issues. But I do think that there's an argument to be had that spreading pornography and entertainment against artificial governmental restrictions could be construed as "fighting authoritarian governments". I don't know that I'd consider this kind of struggle particularly brave even, but not every kind of authoritarianism is locking up dissidents and not every kind of struggle is militaristic. However, I currently am in a monarchy that recently had the civilian government taken over by the military, and currently uses government control of the internet to block pornography on a nation wide basis, so spreading pornography to me is literally combating the arbitrary policies of de facto military government parading around as a monarchy.
  - teamhappy 12y ago
    1. I think the comment was mostly about applauding the very few who do stand up and fight rather have a good time, i.e., watch football, play video games, dance like nobody's watching, or whatever it is they like to do. I don't think it's extreme at all to use watching football as an analogy given it's popularity. Knitting would have been an odd choice, wouldn't you agree? 2. I'm pretty sure the commenter was talking about running a site like TPB, rather than using it. By the way: I really don't see any reason to be offended by the comment. Some people stand up and fight, others don't. No shame in that at all.
    - engendered 12y ago
      I really don't see any reason to be offended by the comment. As someone who enjoys football, I am offended by the comment. It presents a cheap, fictional dichotomy -- this notion that on one side are people who watch football (and apparently nothing else -- if you watch the Super Bowl, clearly that is the entirety of your being), and on the other are the freedom fighters and good people of the world. My Facebook feed is full of similar people who, when they aren't posting pictures of drinking, building model airplanes, or doing other ultimately selfish acts of little consequence for the world, post trite motivational images that decry those who "care more" about a game than whatever pet cause they've decided is important...at least when berating people who might like something they don't. It's boorish and aggressive, and actually terribly offensive. And the notion that the Pirate Bay is some sort of good cause is uproariously hilarious. Even putting aside the whole complex, nuanced discussion on piracy (no, people don't don't use the Pirate Bay to download Linux distros), The Pirate Bay is one of the most aggressively shitty sites on the internet. It is full of malware ads, diversions, pop-unders. The operators sell your security to make themselves money (and, apparently, a lot of it). Hurrah for their great benevolence.
      - teamhappy 12y ago
        Don't get me wrong; I know exactly what you mean. I guess the implication is that people who watch football don't care or are simply to stupid to realize what's going on. On the other hand, it is well known that politicians pass unpopular legislation during major sport events — hoping that nobody will notice. Saying things like "Panem et Circenses" can't be offensive by itself then, can it? Aside from all that, you lost all your moral high-ground in the last paragraph anyway. It might be true that a lot of these people are offensive, but so are you.
  - nickthemagicman 12y ago
    A. Im not even going to address the fact that you trivialized an extremely serious issue involving intellectual property, privacy, government and private industry abuse of power. B. Your comment is like saying you dont see whats wrong with the TSA searching for toothpaste and nailclippers. C.Your willful ignorance is a little bit terrifying Enjoy your reality show in Sunday. Real housewives of Orange county comes on that day too. You dont want to miss out on conversation topics with middle Americans!
  - deleted 12y ago
    [deleted]
  - Dylan16807 12y ago
    >the popular premise that downloading Game of Thrones and porn == "fighting authoritarian governments" You're confusing the users of the pirate bay with the site itself. I strongly cheer for the site on freedom of speech grounds, even while I think the kind of downloading you describe is bad. I think the word "authoritarian" is appropriate to describe shutting down a site for "contributing" to a crime just by letting users leave descriptions and contact info.

I mostly just lurk on HN... but occasionally I wish I had the time to post more regularly. Just so I could build up enough karma points to have downvote privileges for stuff like this.

henpa 12y ago

Ditto, but on your post.

skrebbel 12y ago

Consider saying why you'd downvote this instead of bitching and maybe you'd actually get those karma points.

StevePerkins 12y ago
There was a very active thread yesterday (400+ comments), titled "Cultivated Disinterest in Professional Sports" (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8972179 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8972179). TL;DR: The article was basically a critique of people like the parent commenter. In the thread that followed, I came down on the side of those who agreed with the article. So I would downvote parent for two reasons: (1) Attempting to twist a thread about the Pirate Bay into a thread about the Super Bowl and "'Murica" is pretentious in the extreme even without Latin, and (2) I disagree with the popular premise that downloading Game of Thrones and porn == "fighting authoritarian governments". I realize that this makes me a minority here, to the point of possibly being considered a troll for admitting it. Which is one reason why I don't bother posting more, which in turn is one reason why HN is so "hivemind-ish" on many subjects.
- vezzy-fnord 12y ago
  I realize that this makes me a minority here, to the point of possibly being considered a troll for admitting it. You do come off as a troll, not so much because you oppose TPB, but because of the blatant straw man you use to characterize it. The main advantage that permissive torrent trackers carry is that they serve as vast cultural archives. No, consuming media is not necessary for survival, but should poverty condemn you to cultural illiteracy?
- ObviousScience 12y ago
  For the record, I downvoted you both for posting insubstantial comments that are basically throwing out an opinion with nothing of substance, while I upvoted this one for talking about relevant issues. But I do think that there's an argument to be had that spreading pornography and entertainment against artificial governmental restrictions could be construed as "fighting authoritarian governments". I don't know that I'd consider this kind of struggle particularly brave even, but not every kind of authoritarianism is locking up dissidents and not every kind of struggle is militaristic. However, I currently am in a monarchy that recently had the civilian government taken over by the military, and currently uses government control of the internet to block pornography on a nation wide basis, so spreading pornography to me is literally combating the arbitrary policies of de facto military government parading around as a monarchy.
- teamhappy 12y ago
  1. I think the comment was mostly about applauding the very few who do stand up and fight rather have a good time, i.e., watch football, play video games, dance like nobody's watching, or whatever it is they like to do. I don't think it's extreme at all to use watching football as an analogy given it's popularity. Knitting would have been an odd choice, wouldn't you agree? 2. I'm pretty sure the commenter was talking about running a site like TPB, rather than using it. By the way: I really don't see any reason to be offended by the comment. Some people stand up and fight, others don't. No shame in that at all.
  - engendered 12y ago
    I really don't see any reason to be offended by the comment. As someone who enjoys football, I am offended by the comment. It presents a cheap, fictional dichotomy -- this notion that on one side are people who watch football (and apparently nothing else -- if you watch the Super Bowl, clearly that is the entirety of your being), and on the other are the freedom fighters and good people of the world. My Facebook feed is full of similar people who, when they aren't posting pictures of drinking, building model airplanes, or doing other ultimately selfish acts of little consequence for the world, post trite motivational images that decry those who "care more" about a game than whatever pet cause they've decided is important...at least when berating people who might like something they don't. It's boorish and aggressive, and actually terribly offensive. And the notion that the Pirate Bay is some sort of good cause is uproariously hilarious. Even putting aside the whole complex, nuanced discussion on piracy (no, people don't don't use the Pirate Bay to download Linux distros), The Pirate Bay is one of the most aggressively shitty sites on the internet. It is full of malware ads, diversions, pop-unders. The operators sell your security to make themselves money (and, apparently, a lot of it). Hurrah for their great benevolence.
    - teamhappy 12y ago
      Don't get me wrong; I know exactly what you mean. I guess the implication is that people who watch football don't care or are simply to stupid to realize what's going on. On the other hand, it is well known that politicians pass unpopular legislation during major sport events — hoping that nobody will notice. Saying things like "Panem et Circenses" can't be offensive by itself then, can it? Aside from all that, you lost all your moral high-ground in the last paragraph anyway. It might be true that a lot of these people are offensive, but so are you.
- nickthemagicman 12y ago
  A. Im not even going to address the fact that you trivialized an extremely serious issue involving intellectual property, privacy, government and private industry abuse of power. B. Your comment is like saying you dont see whats wrong with the TSA searching for toothpaste and nailclippers. C.Your willful ignorance is a little bit terrifying Enjoy your reality show in Sunday. Real housewives of Orange county comes on that day too. You dont want to miss out on conversation topics with middle Americans!
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
- Dylan16807 12y ago
  >the popular premise that downloading Game of Thrones and porn == "fighting authoritarian governments" You're confusing the users of the pirate bay with the site itself. I strongly cheer for the site on freedom of speech grounds, even while I think the kind of downloading you describe is bad. I think the word "authoritarian" is appropriate to describe shutting down a site for "contributing" to a crime just by letting users leave descriptions and contact info.