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peterdevlin.com

17 pointspcd15 comments

I would rather read about advices given by these nobodies, than read about the latest industry farts, which are so common these days.

I'm sophisticated enough to look for the context in which these advices are given and to spot logical fallacies or "does not follow" arguments. I also checkout the credentials from time to time, depending on the topic being discussed. So basically I can think for myself.

Also, that blog has too many ads on it, which is another criteria by which I judge blog posts, as that's a really good indication of link-baits. I'm not against ads, but I like them to be tasteful.

Couldn't post it on the blog, but here is my original comment:

Who are you, and why are there more ads than content in this post?

Do you really think only people with the 'right' credentials have interesting things to say? That's shortsighted IMO.

His credentials are clearly stated: a long time reader of HN disappointed by the recent influx.

There is only one absolute in the universe - change.

Learn to embrace it.

I have a feeling there is an influx of new people on HN who do a lot of posting and voting before figuring out the values of HN. I'm probably guilty of this myself.

I think maybe an 'introduction' or 'rules' tab for newbies might be good. Not sure if this has been suggested before...

These things already exist; the links are at the bottom of the page.

http://ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

http://ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html

They're too easily ignored. Maybe they should be posted monthly, like "Who's Hiring" threads.

The whole point is to deliver a larger signal to noise ratio - posting these every month would lower this, IMO.

Oh. My bad - never noticed. Maybe they'd do better at the top. Or as a link when you hit 'post' or 'reply'... Or perhaps its just me that has missed them.

sorry everyone, server has crashed

here is the artcle:

Help save HackerNews! Posted on April 1, 2012

As a long time reader of HackerNews, (first time poster), I am truly worried for it’s future.

Lately I have been seeing a lot of posts, seemingly giving good advice on a whole range of topics, start-ups being foremost. However, at the end of each of these articles, while interesting and well written, I am left with the feeling “who the hell are they to tell people how to do <insert advice here>”. Posters are habitually giving advice, generally with no credentials or basis for what makes their advice relative. And it becomes hearsay and opinion rather than solid advice based on facts.

I am really partial to the ‘real’ stories about people’s successes and failures that give good background and relate facts and experiences. These are the articles that I learn from. Not the “Doing x and y for business success, by nobody in particular”. The difference is we have credentials and background on the poster. The other types of posts remind me a little of pop culture radio DJs who have a whole lot to say about nothing and they end up talking over the songs (or good posts in our case).

So pull your pants up HN. Write and vote for the real stuff. If you’re going to give advice or an opinion, back it up with facts and evidence.

Given the URL, error and speed of the crash, I'm guessing you're running WordPress on Apache+MySQL. There's no reason that stack can't handle HN-level traffic for a blog (especially at 3AM Pacific).

Activate a caching plugin WordPress to remove the database bottleneck.

Lower the MaxSpareServers/ServerLimit/MaxClients variables so that Apache can never start more processes than your system has RAM. Turn off KeepAlive or set the timeout very low so that those few processes you can handle running aren't tied up on people that have already loaded the post.

That should prevent the kind of crash that just happened.

Thanks, that's great advice. you are spot on with what I am using. Now if only I could get onto my server...

Wait a minute, check his credentials, who the hell is he to tell you how to administer your server?

Even if the article itself is arbitrary advice, i still think it makes for a good discussion point. If the author is spewing trash, constructively call them out on it. If the author has a good point or brings up an issue, talk about it.

From what I've seen of HackerNews, this is already happening!

Reply on news.ycombinator.com