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It would seem that HN agree. Black bar is now up.

The black bar looks strange on my tablet, not like I remember it from last time. The black is now about 1/7th of the bar and the remainder is orange. I seem to recall that the entire bar was black last time they did it, which I think worked much better.

Pretty sure it hasn't changed.

Some evidence it hasn't changed (as far as I can see): https://www.flickr.com/photos/turoczy/5886505173

Please consider making the black bar a link. When I first saw it, it wasn't clear why there's a black bar. Especially later if the post goes to the second page.

Best bit is the implementation: spacer gif in a table cell like it's 1999.

might be a sideeffect of the mobile adaption they did a few weeks ago

Agreed, one of the giants.

Would it make sense to pin the relevant post to the top of the page when HN does a Black Bar tribute?

I wonder if it would be feasible to do this automatically when the top story contains the word "died" or synonyms thereof.

"Java is dead"-like posts would trigger it.

Also I don't think automatisation of remembrance gestures is a good thing.

Hmm, you're right about hyperbolic deaths.

But I rather like the idea of the black bar being effectively triggered by a consensus of HN users rather than waiting for an admin.