[rakoo]

"Web scraping to create Open Data" is the exact reason why weboob (http://weboob.org/) was created and still thrives today. CityBikes already seems to be doing a big part of the job, and in Python nonetheless, so it should be easy to integrate its data and use it with Boobsize (http://weboob.org/applications/boobsize.html)

[maxaf]

That naming scheme definitely needs a long, hard rethink.

[rakoo]

It's funny, everytime Weboob is presented somewhere, and everytime there is a post about the latest version of Weboob, the first comment is a variation of "it's sexist/boobs are unprofessional/grow up", and very very little time is spent talking about the actual thing, what it does and why its only goal is to become irrelevant. Sad thing.

Here's what they have to say about it, and why there's very little chance they will change anything:

http://laurent.bachelier.name/2013/12/weboob-the-asshole-det...

(This comment is not directed at you directly)

[WaxProlix]

> It's funny, everytime Weboob is presented somewhere, and everytime there is a post about the latest version of Weboob, the first comment is a variation of "it's sexist/boobs are unprofessional/grow up", and very very little time is spent talking about the actual thing

Seems like a bad name then, no?

[JamilD]

There is a legitimate argument to be made if the naming was unintentional or if people were making a big deal out of nothing.

But with Application names like 'Handjoob', 'Boobsize', and 'Flatboob', I think the naming is unavoidably distracting and inappropriate.

[snurk]

Uh, exactly. Not much "sad" about it. More like bad choices on the part of the creator.

[rakoo]

I don't believe it's a problem with the name itself but more a problem with how commenters are more easily concerned about everything sounding professional even though it may very well have nothing to do with a job.

[chrisbroadfoot]

Don't click the link above. It may crash your browser.

------------------------------

Full text:

We often get complaints around Weboob‘s name, and the various application names.

There’s no denying they’re childish. What they are not, however, is sexist.

There is “boob” in the main name, and “boob” is a friendly name referring to (mostly female) breasts. We would, for example, avoid using “tits” or “cunt”, because they are often demeaning1. Though it is a happy accident (our earlier ideas like “woob” and “webob” were taken), we certainly like playing with that.

The idea is the same with application names; it’s all about friendly jokes (like wetboobs the weather tool, which manages to be related to weather and boobs).

If you’re offended, just ask yourself “how is it sexist?”.

As it appears, Weboob is a formidable tool to detect people that are part of the “be offended first, think later” crowd. Interestingly, the crusaders2 are to date all male, and often assert that women can’t like jokes about breasts or sex in general3. How fucked up is that?

They will always make a scene4 on how they’re never going to use Weboob because of names. Guys, here’s the thing: we don’t need you and we certainly don’t want you. I for one am glad we created an Asshole Detector, albeit by accident. We however are mostly not native English speakers. Mistakes can happen. [↩] This is not an euphemism. They act like they are fighting for a good cause, but it’s only pretend. [↩] And who the hell are they to talk in place of others? That is actual sexism. [↩] So that it is abundantly clear, this is purely about making a scene; I do not care about their opinions or how many penises they may have. All our contributors do not and do not have to like the branding. [↩]

[siegecraft]

It may crash your browser >intentionally<

[maxaf]

It's a fun read. You know, I'm not normally one to jump on the "offended" bandwagon. In this case I felt compelled to speak up because the name makes it pretty much impossible to reference or recommend the project in a business setting. Wearing a t-shirt to work makes me feel like a true rebel; mentioning a project with components such as "boobsize" and "wetboobs" is going to simply be too weird for many people.

[mpeg]

If you have to write a blog post about how the sexism "crusaders" have it in for you, chances are you are the asshole.

I'm not offended by the name, I get the joke, I just think it's a stupid joke.

[kbenson]

> It's funny, everytime Weboob is presented somewhere, and everytime there is a post about the latest version of Weboob, the first comment is a variation of "it's sexist/boobs are unprofessional/grow up", and very very little time is spent talking about the actual thing, what it does and why its only goal is to become irrelevant. Sad thing.

That in itself is a very good reason why the naming scheme needs a long, hard rethink. It's distracting.

Put another way, I wouldn't blame everyone else if every time my hypothetical company "Natzie" was mentioned the conversation devolved into something unrelated to the reason it was mentioned. If you want to succeed, you need to make decisions based on the real world, not how the world should be (not that you can't push limits, but baby steps are often needed).

[snurk]

Interesting — that link is either down, or it's set up to present several different troll responses depending on the http referrer.

When I click, I'm redirected to a simple image. When I request it in incognito mode, I'm redirected to a "crash safari" url.

[mpeg]

Hacker news referrer = social justice warrior hipsters it seems.

[mirimir]

No problem here. RefControl set to block by default.

[AgentME]

I clicked the link and got some "hipsters not allowed" page. Not exactly helping the point that it's not just childish.

[lamontcg]

"weboob the asshole detector"

I think it probably /is/ an asshole detector, but not quite in the way that the authors of that webpage /think/ it is.

from Wikipedia:

Psychological projection is a theory in psychology in which humans defend themselves against their own unpleasant impulses by denying their existence while attributing them to others.

[Jarwain]

Is that supposed to link me to http://no-hipsters-allowed.t28.net/ ?

Edit: it directs me properly in an incognito window.

[seanp2k2]

Warning, this link either goes to CrashSafari or http://no-hipsters-allowed.t28.net/ .

[snurk]

> ... long, hard ...

Heh.

Ok, but seriously, I look forward to seeing their appearance on r/drama when twitter discovers this.

[danieltillett]

Are you referring to weBOOB.com or scRAPINGhub.com or both?

[tn13]

On their homepage you see "anal+" image....

[danvoell]

agreed

[kh_hk]

This script [1] using pybikes would accomplish a similar thing.

Only problem with using pybikes natively are some systems we call asynchronous. These are bike share websites that require actually clicking on a station to get the status information. This means that for getting accurate information on the entire the feed (let's say 500 stations), you would have to go through each of them. On these cases, it's way easier to just use the API.

[1]: https://gist.github.com/eskerda/bbd65539048a53eadfccc5d535ad...