The fact you say people may lose it because you may have "a bad [hairday]" says so much about you. Which is: an inconsiderate ass hole looking for glory/karma points.
> Looking forward to more positive contributions from you in the future.
This might be my favorite comment by you of all time Jacques - very elegant way of dealing with that nonsense. I don't need a subdomain, but much respect and cheers for doing this. And jeez, I guess there'll always be critics no matter what - "inconsiderate ass hole looking for glory/karma points" - that must be ever so enjoyable to see after devoting a few hours to setting people up and helping them out.
You know I have been watching these with interest. I think someone is trying to beat the turring test. The always seem to be in context, but don't seem to quite jive with the conversation. I have seen some that are pretty decent. I wonder if someone is using the voting system as feedback as to how well the bot is parsing the conversation and developing a convincing response. It is the only logical explanation that I can think of, They are never a good troll, they don't pitch viagra or some other crap, but obviously someone has put the effort to get it onto the board. The question is why. My thought is the kind of guy that would be trying to beat the turring test would be lurking on HN. Just a thought.
Update: well ok maybe not for this guy I see he posted later on down in the thread. But his first post did follow a pattern that I have been noticing in other threads.
Take it for what it is and use it to your advantage. If you find it useful or are grateful for the contribution then vote it up. The fact of the matter is that you are a hater. Here's another fun fact for you. Haters are the lamest kind of fans, because they're too proud/unaware to admit their love. Did you realize that by posting in the thread you're making it more popular? Threads with lots of comments get more views. Consider the outcome of your actions.
I guess you have not read the mantra around here, according to PG and I am paraphrasing here so forgive me if I don't do it justice. He does not want it to prosper beyond it's core focus. My understanding is that he is not interested in creating the next Slashdot or Reddit. As a former Slashdotter with a extremely low user id, I understand why, I witnessed it happening over time. With that prosperity comes a watered down environment where memes, on liners and +5 funny's, and flaming trolls such as yourself are the rage. It kills the brand and drives people like myself away. I lurked here for a long time before deciding to join, and the reason I finally did was the fact that there is a concerted effort to keep HN from becoming Slashdot.
The point is: If enough people abuse this I might have to put a stop to it.
So, to make sure that it is absolutely clear that this is not to be used for mission critical stuff because I reserve the right to 'undo' it.
Most likely it will last forever but I do not wish to have anybody sue me at some point for making a promise that I could not keep.
Looking forward to more positive contributions from you in the future.