8 ms·

I think that's some "Long Now Foundation" meme.

by rrakow 1y ago

dcminter 1y ago
That. Personally I think it's performative nonsense, but you have to admire the commitment to it.
- kstrauser 1y ago
  I suspect it’s counterproductive, though, like deliberately not using pronouns and always referring to someone by name. The intent might be to draw attention to the author’s cause, but it’s more likely to come across that the author just writes weirdly.
  - dcminter 1y ago
    Eh, I also think it's harmless, and lends a certain "brand" to their posts - which are usually quite good otherwise. Better to be weird than dull, right?
    - kstrauser 1y ago
      I guess, unless the offputting:goodness ratio gets lopsided and makes people start ignoring them. Frankly, something about that leading 0 makes me grit my teeth and stop reading. I can't explain why it affects me like that. Perhaps I'm the only one who does, although threads like this seem to pop up whenever they post so I don't think so. If HN had a mute button, I'd probably use it just because it annoys me to that level. Edit: And now that we're talking about it, they seem to have the need to mention a specific year way more than most, as though deliberately looking for opportunities to draw attention to themselves. Oof. That just made it about 10x more grating to me.
      - dcminter 1y ago
        I do get where you're coming from; for me I think it interrupts the way I scan text - a date would be unconsciously absorbed but these stand out as abnormal artefacts requiring full attention.
        kstrauser 1y ago
        Yeah, that's a great way of explaining it. Every time, it raises an exception in my mental parser and I have to go back and consciously evaluate it. Then I see that it's the same person who got me yet again, and I grit my teeth.
      - tonyedgecombe 1y ago
        You aren’t the only one, it interrupts the flow when I’m reading.
    - andrekandre 1y ago
      idk, i personally was confused by it; i thought they were referencing some node number or referencing some other thing and got hung up on it....
- MalbertKerman 1y ago
  [flagged]
- kragen 1y ago
  It doesn't require any special commitment because it doesn't cost me anything. Certain people do post a lot of really boring comments about it, but I'm not the one posting those comments, and I don't care about those people's opinions, so I don't care. I don't believe I'm actually doing those people any injury, so while they're obviously free to continue requesting different formatting of my posts, I'm free to ignore them. I think it's important for people to be able to complain about things that bother them, for the reasons described in https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44501817 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44501817. In that thread, we were discussing a different commenter requesting that an author please not use AI for editing his own books, although the request was made in a particularly obnoxious fashion. Consider "Please don't play your music so loud at night", "Please don't look at my sister", or "Please don't throw your trash out your car window". But "please format your dates differently" doesn't seem like a very important request, even if it were phrased politely, to the point that it makes me (and, as I've seen, others) think less of the people who are making it. If my date formatting really bothers them, they're free to stop reading the site. After having looked at their comment histories, I wish some of them would, because the only thing they ever post are similarly vacuous complaints. If people had to choose between reading a site where I posted and they didn't, and a site where they posted and I didn't, 100% of people would choose the former. (Others do occasionally post something worthwhile, but nothing that inspires me to wonder how I could earn their admiration.) So, these days, I can easily ignore it. Especially the day after this comment of mine got voted up to +151: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44491713 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44491713
  - avhception 1y ago
    Every time I encounter it, I think to myself: ah, that guy again. Always brings a little smile to my face. Keep it up!
    - kragen 1y ago
      Thanks!
  - dcminter 1y ago
    > I don't care about those people's opinions, so I don't care. This was stronger before you edited in the longer paragraphs telling us that you look through their comment histories. Look, you do you, but I'd rather hear your passionate promotion of the leading zero approach since you apparently know it irritates people. Edit: PS Isn't it interesting that the comment that you are justly proud of doesn't have any dates in it? :)

I think that's some "Long Now Foundation" meme.

by rrakow 1y ago

I think that's some "Long Now Foundation" meme.

dcminter 1y ago

That. Personally I think it's performative nonsense, but you have to admire the commitment to it.

kstrauser 1y ago
I suspect it’s counterproductive, though, like deliberately not using pronouns and always referring to someone by name. The intent might be to draw attention to the author’s cause, but it’s more likely to come across that the author just writes weirdly.
- dcminter 1y ago
  Eh, I also think it's harmless, and lends a certain "brand" to their posts - which are usually quite good otherwise. Better to be weird than dull, right?
  - kstrauser 1y ago
    I guess, unless the offputting:goodness ratio gets lopsided and makes people start ignoring them. Frankly, something about that leading 0 makes me grit my teeth and stop reading. I can't explain why it affects me like that. Perhaps I'm the only one who does, although threads like this seem to pop up whenever they post so I don't think so. If HN had a mute button, I'd probably use it just because it annoys me to that level. Edit: And now that we're talking about it, they seem to have the need to mention a specific year way more than most, as though deliberately looking for opportunities to draw attention to themselves. Oof. That just made it about 10x more grating to me.
    - dcminter 1y ago
      I do get where you're coming from; for me I think it interrupts the way I scan text - a date would be unconsciously absorbed but these stand out as abnormal artefacts requiring full attention.
      - kstrauser 1y ago
        Yeah, that's a great way of explaining it. Every time, it raises an exception in my mental parser and I have to go back and consciously evaluate it. Then I see that it's the same person who got me yet again, and I grit my teeth.
    - tonyedgecombe 1y ago
      You aren’t the only one, it interrupts the flow when I’m reading.
  - andrekandre 1y ago
    idk, i personally was confused by it; i thought they were referencing some node number or referencing some other thing and got hung up on it....
MalbertKerman 1y ago
[flagged]
kragen 1y ago
It doesn't require any special commitment because it doesn't cost me anything. Certain people do post a lot of really boring comments about it, but I'm not the one posting those comments, and I don't care about those people's opinions, so I don't care. I don't believe I'm actually doing those people any injury, so while they're obviously free to continue requesting different formatting of my posts, I'm free to ignore them. I think it's important for people to be able to complain about things that bother them, for the reasons described in https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44501817 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44501817. In that thread, we were discussing a different commenter requesting that an author please not use AI for editing his own books, although the request was made in a particularly obnoxious fashion. Consider "Please don't play your music so loud at night", "Please don't look at my sister", or "Please don't throw your trash out your car window". But "please format your dates differently" doesn't seem like a very important request, even if it were phrased politely, to the point that it makes me (and, as I've seen, others) think less of the people who are making it. If my date formatting really bothers them, they're free to stop reading the site. After having looked at their comment histories, I wish some of them would, because the only thing they ever post are similarly vacuous complaints. If people had to choose between reading a site where I posted and they didn't, and a site where they posted and I didn't, 100% of people would choose the former. (Others do occasionally post something worthwhile, but nothing that inspires me to wonder how I could earn their admiration.) So, these days, I can easily ignore it. Especially the day after this comment of mine got voted up to +151: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44491713 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44491713
- avhception 1y ago
  Every time I encounter it, I think to myself: ah, that guy again. Always brings a little smile to my face. Keep it up!
  - kragen 1y ago
    Thanks!
- dcminter 1y ago
  > I don't care about those people's opinions, so I don't care. This was stronger before you edited in the longer paragraphs telling us that you look through their comment histories. Look, you do you, but I'd rather hear your passionate promotion of the leading zero approach since you apparently know it irritates people. Edit: PS Isn't it interesting that the comment that you are justly proud of doesn't have any dates in it? :)