Are there any existing python study groups that python users on HN can help with as well? There aren't really that many advantages to HNers having their own channels when the more users the merrier - better to chat with non-HNers as well.
The fact that it takes longer to get to the auction section of the site than to just type in "http://www.ebay.com is a warning sign too. I bet he did this on a free server, because it's really slow.
Leave Linux distribution torrents on seed, to help out other users. If you set the bandwidth speeds correctly, you could use 50% of your bandwidth while still having a fast connection left over.
It could also autocomplete based on who just tweeted to you. I guess there's only so far that you need to take these things, and twitter was designed to have a simple interface.
How about having an RSS reader that displays a random selection of headlines (or just the latest, depending on how full your inbox is), but it only lets you read 10 of them. You can click those 10 links, but after that the rest are greyed out until the next day.
Why? Putting a limit on how many articles you read will mean you don't feel any pressure to read more. It'll also mean that you'll make sure to spend your time reading things that are interesting to you. Your daily selection of 10 articles could be used by a stumbleupon-type learning algorithm (I know NOTHING about these, by the way).