We are the ones who serve them coffee, deliver them food, suck their cocks, watch their kids, and mop their floors
...
To this end, we now make our first clear demand of Google. We demand that Google give three billion dollars to an anarchist organization of our choosing.
On the one hand I feel sorry for Kevin having to deal with these crackpots, on the other hand these crackpots are so bad at PR it's hilarious.
Well, it's not going to be a popular opinion but I think it's a shame he's been forced out. Simply having the wrong views shouldn't make him ineligible for a job.
I know this is going to come across as unfriendly, but I'm always bemused when people make these little plays for attention. It's a massive site, you're not one of the notable commenters, if HN isn't delivering value why not just stop reading it quietly rather than announcing it to the world?
1) Despite your disclaimer you are sounding unfeeling.
2) It seems convenient for a (presumably) relatively healthy and youthful person to be advocating large sacrifices that will hit others first.
3) Many of us don't share your pessimistic view of human progress. If we can figure out how to thwart death from disease, we can probably figure out how to deal with overpopulation.
4) And of course the obvious, and entirely heartless rejoinder: if you're so keen on death to reduce overpopulation, isn't it a bit selfish of you to keep on living?
Here is exactly how you deal with some guy writing in to tell you you're too fat: delete the email and get on with your life.
It's simple, it's easy, it solves the problem.
Of course it's not the modern solution of publicly bullying your correspondent into a retraction while claiming the moral high ground but it works and it's less unpleasant.
I've got one of the schnozzle bags with a compatible mat. It is categorically not cumbersome, not tedious, weighs the same and is filled with down so it has an R-value[1] of 5.9 instead of 1 which is what really matters when you're using a sleeping mat in a tent on a cold night.
[1] The R-value is a measure of how insulating a mat is, higher is better.
You've made, on average, one comment per hundred days you were here[1]. Nobody noticed you were here in the first place and I doubt they will notice you are gone. I have no idea why you are telling people you are leaving instead of simply not visiting anymore.
[1] And they're not grellas-style quality long form comments either.
This is a blatant advertisement masquerading as an article. The new incarnation of SimCity might turn out to be a great game but this is nothing but an EA press release.
* The website doesn't have critical mass or any special hooks (like pg's essays and pg himself, for instance) to help build it
* I'm not "applying" to post on a website
* Costing people karma is going to drive everything towards a hive mind as soon as possible; if you're going to lose karma by posting you're going to try to make sure that you'll earn that karma back. People are also not going to burn karma making civil responses, everything will become a political performance.
1) It pretty obviously is gentle. In the most extreme scenario pg is bullied into briefly making a minor change to the CSS.
2) HN is a community site, which exists and thrives largely because of the community. I can't see anything wrong with members of said community making suggestions on occasion, particularly on occasions like this.
3) People are far too quick to take offence these days, particularly on the internet. IMHO the world would be a better place if these people were instructed to get over it rather than pandered to.
4) Finally PG is free to say no and I for one will not judge him ill for it.
I'm being quite restrained. I'm calling for a feeling of guilt, not their public lynching. If I'd been involved in the prosecution I'd be feeling guilty for proceeding in too heavy-handed a fashion and I'm sure most of the people on this forum would too[1].
Frankly if someone is incapable of self-recrimination when something like this arises I don't want them in this kind of role.
[1] Of course this presupposes a motivation of "doing what's best for the country/society" and not "showing this uppity young guy who's boss".
...
To this end, we now make our first clear demand of Google. We demand that Google give three billion dollars to an anarchist organization of our choosing.
On the one hand I feel sorry for Kevin having to deal with these crackpots, on the other hand these crackpots are so bad at PR it's hilarious.