Ask HN: Can we get a dedicated gratitude page on HN? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Can we get a dedicated gratitude page on HN?

29 pointsrcarr15 comments

So, I will often come across a bit of tech or an application that I think is amazing and I am just generally blown away by (currently it is handwriting recognition on iPad, I haven't tried it in years and I can't believe how good it is now) and thought it would be good if there was a place on HN to celebrate these kinds of things. Like a “Gratitude: “ post title and then a gratitude link at the top in the nav bar next to ‘show’ or ‘ask’ so you could see all the new posts.

I think this would be quite good as it would also set the tone of the post to a positive one; HN can be quite negative or critical (and I am guilty of this myself on multiple occasions, especially recently) and having the Gratitude flag may go some way to keeping these posts having a positive focus. I enjoy debate and we need it for a healthy society but it can also be draining and I think it would be nice to have a little corner of HN that you can go to that’s a bit cheerier for those times when you just want to share in some positivity.

I like the sentiment.

I suspect it would be an attractive nuisance for spam and marketing in practice.

Even if that were managed, I am not sure how intellectually interesting it would be.

Finally, I suspect that it would attract about as much cynicism, snark, skepticism, and negativity as anyplace else on HN that allows comments.

Of course I might be wrong and YMMV. Good luck.

Maybe I am a bit cynical, but I am also afraid that it will turn into camouflaged adverts and a feast of humble brags.

Maybe you'd like to post a thread "What tech are your recently grateful for?" or "What piece of tech recently blown your mind"?

(In general, it's usually better to start smaller as a test, rather than committing to a permanent, bigger thing.)

I'm grateful that this site still has no ads, no pictures, and no JavaScript nonsense.

I had this feeling when Shazam came out. It blew me away that it could so consistently figure out a song in seconds.

Hmm what if it was a monthly Gratitude post like the who's hiring posts?

Yeah this is a good idea

> currently it is handwriting recognition on iPad, I haven't tried it in years and I can't believe how good it is now

Could you please let me know which app are you talking about here?

So there is built in support with it in the native Apple programs now such as notes, you just have to select the pencil which has an "A" on it and it will automatically convert whatever you write into text. If you don't use the handwriting pen you can write something using the normal pen, tap it, and then tap "Copy as text" and you can then paste whatever you've written as text.

There is also a feature called Scribble which allows you to use the Apple Pencil on any input field and it will automatically convert it into text - nuts!

As well as this, there is Notability and MathPix Snip, both of which will convert not just text, but also math equations into latex (you do have to pay for this with Notability however but it is free in Mathpix). Another popular option is Good Notes. I believe they are all powered by https://www.myscript.com under the hood. I don't know if Apple uses the same technology or if they've rolled their own.

I have been so impressed with the overall experience that I think I am now going to attempt to write a long form text project on it as my primary device. You can also purchase screen protectors and Apple Pencil nibs that emulate the feel of paper for an even better experience. You can purchase the screen protectors as regular stick on protectors or magnetic ones that you can just snap on and off. I ordered one of the latter today on Amazon and I'm looking forward to trying it out tomorrow.

Some links for you to check out if you are interested:

https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT211774

https://support.gingerlabs.com/hc/en-us/articles/36000387873...

https://mathpix.com/handwriting-recognition

https://support.goodnotes.com/hc/en-us/articles/360000172816...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=magentic+paper+ipad

https://pen.tips

I don't really like it, because I fear it might end up like a Product Hunt kind of thing. We've seen this with Show HN for a period of time.

We do have regular threads on Ask HN for things like this, and I think they do the trick.

You could write a Tell HN about your opinion, although better to do a blog post. Or do an Ask HN asking what tech/app people think is amazing/are super-grateful for.

Why not just post a review?

Yeah I do need to get a blog up and running.

no thanks

You could submit an article about them or upvote ones you see to show gratitude.

Your sentiment is noble, but actions speak louder than words.

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