Moondog | Hacker News Reader

Moondog

en.wikipedia.org

16 pointslogikblok7 comments

On a related note, it was Sun Ra's 100th birthday recently.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-DH4cDUVLo

I'd happily upvote this, it's very interesting but my votes are not counted.

What I like especially is that even though he became blind at the age of 16 it does not appear to have slowed him down in the least.

  > ... my votes are not counted.

It would seem that you have an interesting relationship with the HN algorithms. Have you considered emailing dang or some other mod, or indeed, the hn@ycombinator.com central address, and asking how you can become more "normal" in this regard?

I can understand if you really just don't care, but I was just wondering if you'd taken any steps.

And I've upvoted it for you. I had a half a mind to do so anyway, so you just tipped the balance.

Thanks Colin. I don't feel that I should have to beg for a privilege that is afforded even the newest account on HN. It just bugs me every now and then such as in cases like these. I probably lost my upvote capability due to some perceived slight and I'm very much tired of that sort of thing. Of course the arrows still appear giving me the suggestion that I could upvote, in my book if a user interface component is non-functional it should be grayed out or not there at all. At least that would be clear, open and honest.

Normally I still reflexively upvote stories that I find interesting and then I remember that the votes aren't counted before the arrow even disappears. This time it got to me because this is a really interesting article that might have gotten lost in the junk.

On a more positive note, my flagging privileges have been magically restored.

edit: and some smart-ass flagged it. Too bad.

  > Thanks Colin.

NP - HTH, & YW.

  > I don't feel that I should have to beg for a privilege
  > that is afforded even the newest account on HN. It just
  > bugs me every now and then such as in cases like these.

Finding out what happened at least might afford some insight into the thinking behind it. Then you have more information.

  > I probably lost my upvote capability due to some perceived
  > slight and I'm very much tired of that sort of thing.

Or you got fat-fingered, or it's a false-positive and they'd appreciate the heads-up to help them improve the accuracy, or you really did do something they disapprove of. Without knowing more it's hard to say. HN is a complex place in these regards.

  > ... if a user interface component is non-functional it
  > should be grayed out or not there at all. At least that
  > would be clear, open and honest.

Much of the behavior is driven by the anti-spamming, anti-trolling concerns, and this could easily be one of them. Openness just gains more knowledgable trolls, as I've discovered. I can understand the stance they've chosen, although it is at times frustrating.

  > edit: and some smart-ass flagged it. Too bad.

Indeed. I got down-voted for suggesting that the item on Llanfair PG was not really of intellectual interest. <fx: shrug /> I'm learning that not everything can be fixed, not least because some people don't think it's broken.

"... in my book if a user interface component is non-functional it should be grayed out or not there at all. "

Actually I find this quite interesting. While of course I agree with you in terms of "what is good UX," things get interesting when you consider GX---Group Experience, or the experience of many users.

I realize it's not fun to have one's own (probably arbitrary) reduction of privileges philosophizer about, but it's still interesting to me. So much of our UX thought is built around "help the user at just about any cost." It's interesting to think about different situations.

are you coming straight from listening to Bird's Lament on /r/listentothis ?

http://www.reddit.com/r/listentothis/comments/269fef/moondog...

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