Hacker News Reader

Comment by arijun | Hacker News Reader

My problem with it isn't what he calls it, it's that he claims to have invented it. It would be fine if he said, "yes, other people have been using this knot for decades, but I like to call it Ian's knot."

Would it bother you if I started re-wrote the Wikipedia article on the hot dog in an attempt to convince everyone I invented it? And if people started believing that?

View on HN

1. If you rewrote Wikipedia? Yes. If you set up your own website and said you invented the Arijun Dog? Nah, go for it. Slightly embellishing your accomplishments, in a trivial and victimless arena like hotdogs or shoelaces, is exactly the kind of confidence we should all have.

2. He says right at the very top of the article[1] that what he's claiming is his "method," not the knot which he is attributing. A pretty soft and subjective claim, like if I claimed a "method" of making a hotdog which involves singing a particular song while squirting the mustard.

[1] https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/ianknottech.htm

I read that exact preface on his site before learning and adopting it (the secure knot, specifically, but the preface is on both).

https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/ianknottech.htm

It’s great that he has that caveat, but it’s buried under the “Tech Info” tab. Meanwhile, the header says “yes -- I'm the inventor,” and there is no mention of the knots actual history in the “History” page, only how he “invented” it.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com