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HN Downvote Misuse

📉 0.3x

Comments debate the proper purpose of downvotes on Hacker News, arguing they should target low-quality or off-topic content rather than mere disagreements, often citing the site's FAQ.

6,064 comments Other

Rejecting Generalizations

📉 0.5x

Commenters assert personal differences in preferences, values, or behaviors, countering assumptions that everyone wants, does, or thinks the same about the discussed topic.

6,059 comments Politics & Society

Software Bugs Inevitability

➡️ 0.6x

The cluster focuses on the widespread acceptance that all software contains bugs and imperfections, with commenters expressing sarcasm, frustration, or resignation about unrealistic expectations of bug-free software.

6,059 comments Other

Correlation vs Causation

📉 0.4x

Comments focus on reminding others that correlation does not imply causation, critiquing causal assumptions based on observed correlations in the parent article or discussion.

6,058 comments Science

Google+ Criticism

📉 0.2x

Discussions center on Google+'s perceived failures, forced integrations into other Google products like YouTube, low adoption compared to Facebook, and debates over its usefulness and design.

6,058 comments Startups & Business

Corporate Hypocrisy Criticism

📉 0.4x

The cluster focuses on debates criticizing large corporations for prioritizing profits over ethics, hypocrisy in their actions, and calls for greater accountability, often highlighting perceived double standards in Hacker News discussions.

6,056 comments Politics & Society

Taiwan-China Sovereignty Debate

📉 0.5x

The cluster focuses on debates about whether Taiwan is part of China, its status as an independent country, and the official positions of both the Taiwanese (ROC) and mainland Chinese (PRC) governments.

6,052 comments Politics & Society

Google Becoming Evil

📉 0.4x

The cluster centers on criticism of Google for abandoning its 'don't be evil' motto, acting against user interests, and showing malicious intentions toward its own users.

6,052 comments Politics & Society

Software Engineer Salaries

📉 0.2x

Comments debate compensation levels for software engineers, questioning if figures like 100k-150k are low for mid/senior roles in high-cost areas like the Bay Area, Seattle, and big tech companies, with references to levels.fyi and Glassdoor.

6,052 comments Career & Jobs

Starlink Internet Solution

➡️ 0.6x

Discussions center on whether Starlink satellite internet can serve as a viable alternative to traditional ISPs in remote, rural, or disrupted areas, addressing availability, cost, effectiveness, and limitations.

6,048 comments Hardware

Technology's Societal Impact

➡️ 0.5x

The cluster centers on debates about whether technology benefits or harms society and human well-being, with criticisms of over-fetishization, soul-eating effects, and failure to fix human nature contrasted against defenses of its improvements and connectivity.

6,048 comments Politics & Society

Project Donation Requests

📉 0.4x

Users inquire about donation options for the featured project or initiative, express intent to donate, report having donated, and request links to support it financially.

6,045 comments Open Source

Uber Controversies

📉 0.4x

The cluster centers on discussions of Uber's ongoing troubles, scandals, PR issues, and potential downfall, with commenters expressing skepticism, sarcasm, and pessimism about the company's future.

6,044 comments Startups & Business

Crypto Involvement Assumptions

📉 0.2x

Commenters repeatedly guess, joke, or assume that the main story or incident involves cryptocurrency, often portraying it as typical crypto fraud, shenanigans, or nonsense.

6,043 comments Finance & Crypto

Capitalism Debate

➡️ 0.6x

Comments debating the nature, flaws, benefits, and limitations of capitalism, often attributing various problems to it or defending its principles.

6,043 comments Politics & Society

E-Ink Displays

📉 0.4x

The cluster focuses on discussions about e-ink (e-paper) displays, their advantages like low power use and paper-like readability, limitations such as slow refresh rates and high costs, and potential applications in devices like monitors, phones, and watches.

6,042 comments Hardware

Facebook Data Privacy

📉 0.2x

The cluster centers on debates about Facebook's collection, storage, and sharing of user data through apps, including access to friends' information without direct consent, and questions why Facebook faces unique criticism compared to other apps.

6,041 comments Politics & Society

Debugger vs Print Debugging

➡️ 0.6x

This cluster debates the effectiveness, productivity benefits, and personal preferences between using interactive debuggers and print statements (like printf or logs) for debugging code. Commenters share experiences on when each method excels, with some advocating for debuggers and others preferring prints or mental reasoning.

6,041 comments Other

Survey Selection Bias

📉 0.4x

Comments criticize a survey's validity, focusing on selection bias, self-selected respondents, and flawed methodology that prevents representative results.

6,039 comments Other

Open Source vs Source-Available

📉 0.5x

The cluster centers on debates over whether a software project qualifies as truly 'open source' or merely 'source-available' due to restrictive licenses that fail to meet open source definitions. Commenters frequently reference the Open Source Initiative criteria and urge accurate terminology.

6,039 comments Open Source

Jira Usability Debate

📉 0.2x

Users discuss their experiences with Jira, criticizing its UI, performance, complexity, and processes while defending its flexibility and suggesting alternatives like Linear or GitLab.

6,038 comments DevOps & Infrastructure

Postgres vs MySQL

📉 0.4x

Debates and discussions on reasons to choose PostgreSQL over MySQL or vice versa, including technical advantages, experiences, and arguments for preferring one database over the other in projects.

6,035 comments Databases

Game Engines Debate

📉 0.4x

Discussions center on the merits of using off-the-shelf game engines like Unity, Unreal, and Godot versus building custom or bespoke engines, including whether there's room for new engines and their applications beyond gaming.

6,033 comments Gaming

Source Code Sharing

📉 0.5x

Discussions center on the risks, benefits, and debates around sharing proprietary source code with companies or open-sourcing it, including fears of IP theft, trust issues, and obligations to make code public.

6,032 comments Open Source

Bitcoin Hype

📉 0.3x

This cluster features enthusiastic, meme-like comments promoting Bitcoin or claiming various events are 'good for Bitcoin', often in a celebratory or sarcastic tone on Hacker News.

6,032 comments Finance & Crypto

Zuckerberg Criticism

➡️ 0.8x

This cluster consists of comments expressing skepticism, distrust, and criticism toward Mark Zuckerberg's actions, decisions, and character, often portraying him as hypocritical, unchanging, or predictably controversial.

6,031 comments Startups & Business

Custom GPTs & AI Tools

➡️ 0.8x

Cluster focuses on sharing, feedback, and discussions of custom GPTs, ChatGPT frontends, LLM-powered assistants, and tools for productivity, analysis, and conversations.

6,031 comments AI & Machine Learning

Violence Definition Debate

➡️ 0.6x

Commenters debate the definition of violence, particularly whether non-physical actions like censorship, deplatforming, or harm-causing behaviors qualify as violence versus mere inconvenience or force. Discussions include accusations of advocating violence and distinctions between physical and structural harm.

6,030 comments Politics & Society

Video Link Sharing

📉 0.4x

Users frequently share links to YouTube, Vimeo, and other video platforms as recommendations or illustrations relevant to the discussion in various Hacker News threads.

6,027 comments Other

Broken Signup Process

📉 0.4x

Users express frustration over various technical issues preventing them from signing up or registering for a new service, including broken buttons, errors, loading spinners with no feedback, and missing signup options, despite interest in the product.

6,027 comments Web Development

Electric Vehicles

📉 0.4x

Comments discuss electric vehicles (EVs), including specific models like Chevy Volt, BMW i3, Nissan Leaf, and Tesla, their features, shortcomings, comparisons to gas cars, and future prospects.

6,025 comments Hardware

LinkedIn Utility Debate

➡️ 0.7x

Users debate the value of LinkedIn as a professional networking tool, highlighting its benefits for job searching and connections alongside criticisms of spam, recruiter messages, and declining content quality.

6,024 comments Career & Jobs

IPFS Capabilities Debate

📉 0.1x

Comments debate whether IPFS already provides the functionality described in the post, compare it to the project, question its usefulness, and discuss its features like hashing, pinning, and hosting.

6,024 comments DevOps & Infrastructure

Haskell Programming Language

📉 0.4x

Comments focus on a project or code being written in Haskell, suggestions to use Haskell, requests for Haskell implementations, and discussions of its features, strengths, and alternatives.

6,023 comments Programming Languages

Facebook Whistleblower Memo

📉 0.3x

The cluster discusses a Facebook whistleblower's internal memo revealing political manipulation and privacy issues, with heavy skepticism about Facebook's honesty, responses, and track record of scandals like Cambridge Analytica.

6,020 comments Politics & Society

Student Loan Debt

📉 0.2x

Discussions center on the high costs of college tuition, the burden of student loan debt, debates over its value relative to job prospects, and alternatives like avoiding college or choosing affordable options.

6,017 comments Career & Jobs

Machine Translation Tools

➡️ 0.6x

Discussions center on using Google Translate and alternatives like DeepL or ChatGPT to handle non-English content, often recommending them as simple solutions over other options.

6,017 comments AI & Machine Learning

PowerPoint vs Web Slides

➡️ 0.7x

Users critique web-based slide decks for lacking standalone value without narration, repeatedly comparing them unfavorably to PowerPoint and requesting alternatives or improvements.

6,013 comments Other

Hatred of Advertisements

➡️ 0.5x

This cluster centers on users expressing strong dislike for ads, viewing them as annoying, unethical, manipulative, and a form of mental pollution, with debates on their necessity and personal avoidance strategies.

6,013 comments Politics & Society

Questioning Downvotes

📉 0.5x

Users repeatedly ask for explanations on why specific comments or posts are being downvoted on Hacker News, expressing confusion and seeking clarification from the community.

6,008 comments Other

HTTP/2 vs HTTP/1.1

📉 0.4x

Discussions center on the necessity, benefits, adoption, and comparisons of HTTP/2 versus HTTP/1.1, including performance improvements, HTTPS requirements, and mentions of HTTP/3.

6,008 comments Web Development

AI Article Summarization

➡️ 0.8x

Comments discuss using AI tools like LLMs, GPT, and services such as Kagi or HN summarizers to generate summaries of articles and Hacker News posts, including questions on accuracy, implementation, and alternatives.

6,008 comments AI & Machine Learning

Apple App Store Fees

📉 0.4x

Comments debate Apple's 30% commission on App Store sales and in-app purchases, weighing its value against services like distribution and payment processing, comparisons to other platforms, and calls for reductions.

6,007 comments Startups & Business

Oracle Criticism

➡️ 0.8x

Comments heavily criticize Oracle's aggressive business practices, litigious nature, and poor customer relations, often portraying them as having 'hostages' rather than customers and questioning their motives in various tech contexts.

6,006 comments Startups & Business

Paywalled Articles on HN

📉 0.4x

Users complain about Hacker News submissions linking to paywalled articles, debate whether they should be allowed or banned, and discuss workarounds or HN guidelines on such content.

6,004 comments Other

Startup Naming Debate

➡️ 0.5x

The cluster focuses on discussions about choosing names for startups and products, debating factors like uniqueness, descriptiveness, pronounceability, SEO benefits, domain availability, and trends in naming conventions.

6,002 comments Startups & Business

Waymo vs Tesla Self-Driving

➡️ 1.4x

This cluster centers on comparisons between Waymo's autonomous robotaxi technology and Tesla's Full Self-Driving/Autopilot, debating superiority in safety, capabilities, scalability, and real-world deployment.

6,002 comments AI & Machine Learning

Journalist Criticism

📉 0.4x

This cluster centers on mocking and criticizing journalists for their perceived incompetence, lack of basic knowledge, and failure to perform proper journalism, often questioning if they deserve the title.

6,001 comments Politics & Society

Image and GIF Sharing

📉 0.4x

Users share links to Imgur albums, single images, GIFs, memes, screenshots, and other visuals, often as direct responses or examples in a lighthearted or illustrative thread.

6,001 comments Other

Facebook Privacy Concerns

📉 0.3x

Comments express distrust in Facebook's handling of user data and privacy, highlighting repeated breaches, careless practices, and lack of user consent.

6,000 comments Security

Software Tool Alternatives

➡️ 0.5x

Users recommend various alternative tools, apps, and software options to the one in the main post, often highlighting open-source or similar projects.

5,999 comments Open Source

Metric vs Imperial Debate

📉 0.3x

The cluster focuses on criticism of the US's use of imperial units instead of the metric system, advocating for metric adoption due to its simplicity, global usage, and alignment with modern calculations.

5,997 comments Politics & Society

macOS Upgrade Compatibility

📉 0.5x

Discussions focus on support for older macOS versions, hardware limitations preventing upgrades, security updates on legacy systems, and user reluctance to update due to compatibility issues.

5,994 comments Hardware

Twitter Link Complaints

📉 0.1x

Users express frustration with Twitter links being unusable due to ads, login requirements, redirects, and ad blockers, often requesting direct links or alternatives like Nitter.

5,991 comments Other

Resale Viability Debate

📉 0.4x

Discussions revolve around questioning why certain parties aren't reselling or selling items, debating feasibility, market demand, plummeting value, ownership issues, and potential buyers.

5,989 comments Startups & Business

New Knowledge Acknowledgments

📉 0.4x

This cluster features comments where users express surprise upon discovering previously unknown information and thank the commenter for sharing it.

5,985 comments Other

Phone Number Requirements

📉 0.3x

Users debate the necessity of providing phone numbers for service sign-ups, with many objecting due to privacy invasion and spam risks, while others defend it for fraud prevention and spam control.

5,984 comments Security

Stealing from Thieves Debate

📉 0.3x

The cluster centers on debates over whether taking property or value from thieves, scammers, or bad actors constitutes actual theft, questioning moral justifications like 'thief from a thief' logic and legal definitions of stealing.

5,984 comments Legal

COVID Herd Immunity

📉 0.1x

The cluster discusses herd immunity in the context of COVID-19, debating whether it has been achieved, the impact of lockdowns and suppression measures on R0 and spread, and the roles of vaccines and natural infection in reaching immunity thresholds.

5,983 comments Health

Poor Customer Service

📉 0.4x

Commenters criticize companies for mistreating or disrespecting customers, defending customer rights and highlighting the importance of good customer service in response to a specific incident or policy.

5,983 comments Startups & Business

This Is The Internet

➡️ 0.6x

Comments repeatedly invoke the chaotic, uncontrollable, or disappointing nature of the internet to justify, lament, or accept online behaviors, events, or content.

5,982 comments Politics & Society

GitHub Issue Reporting

➡️ 0.6x

Comments primarily discuss reporting bugs, opening issues, or checking existing GitHub issues for software projects, with users encouraging submissions to trackers for visibility and fixes.

5,982 comments Open Source

US Foreign Policy Hypocrisy

➡️ 0.8x

The cluster centers on debates about the US hypocritically criticizing other countries for interference, meddling, or human rights abuses while engaging in similar or worse actions itself, often featuring whataboutism and calls against US exceptionalism.

5,982 comments Politics & Society

Fascism Definition Debate

➡️ 1.4x

The cluster centers on debates about the definition of fascism, with users accusing or denying that certain political actions, figures, or policies qualify as fascist.

5,982 comments Politics & Society

Gibberish Spam Comments

📉 0.5x

This cluster is dominated by repetitive letter strings, random character sequences, and incoherent text resembling bot-generated spam or nonsense posts on Hacker News.

5,981 comments Other

GDPR Compliance Debate

📉 0.2x

The cluster centers on discussions about whether a specific practice or feature violates GDPR, with users citing articles, questioning compliance, and debating legal implications like consent and data processing.

5,979 comments Legal

Misrepresentation Denials

➡️ 0.5x

Comments where users refute claims that they said, implied, or meant something they did not, often correcting strawman arguments or misreadings of their statements.

5,978 comments Other

Website Design Criticism

📉 0.4x

Users critique the bland, generic, Bootstrap-like, or ugly designs of various websites, often comparing them to functional but simple sites like Hacker News and debating if polished aesthetics are necessary for success.

5,977 comments Web Development

Beer Drinking Jokes

📉 0.4x

This cluster features humorous comments referencing beer, alcohol, or drinks, often suggesting them as solutions to problems or using idiomatic expressions like 'hold my beer'.

5,976 comments Other

Pornography Effects Debate

📉 0.5x

This cluster revolves around discussions on the impacts of pornography, including its potential harms to the brain and relationships, benefits like stress relief and reduced crime, consumption patterns, and societal role.

5,974 comments Politics & Society

Product Review Reliability

📉 0.3x

Discussions center on skepticism about the authenticity of online product reviews, including suspicions of fake or paid reviews, calls for reviewing reviewers, and recommendations for trustworthy review sites.

5,974 comments Startups & Business

Encryption Backdoors Debate

➡️ 0.6x

The cluster centers on debates about government-mandated backdoors in encryption, opposition to weakening end-to-end encryption for surveillance purposes, and concerns over legal efforts to ban or regulate strong encryption.

5,974 comments Security

Transphobia and Transgender Issues

📉 0.5x

The cluster focuses on debates accusing or defending against transphobia in Hacker News comments and articles, including discussions on trans people's existence, rights, athletes, and TERFs.

5,974 comments Politics & Society

Show HN Advice

➡️ 0.8x

Comments primarily suggest or debate submitting personal projects as 'Show HN' posts on Hacker News, often linking to and explaining the official guidelines on what qualifies.

5,973 comments Other

Raspberry Pi Compatibility

📉 0.3x

Comments primarily inquire about running the featured project on Raspberry Pi, sharing experiences on performance, setup, and compatibility. Users frequently ask if it works well on RPi or suggest it as an ideal platform.

5,973 comments Hardware

HN Moderation Censorship

📉 0.4x

Discussions revolve around flagging, downvoting, and moderation practices on Hacker News that suppress controversial or dissenting opinions, often on sensitive political topics, leading to concerns about echo chambers and censorship.

5,969 comments Politics & Society

Article is Advertisement

➡️ 0.6x

Users repeatedly identify and criticize the linked Hacker News post as an advertisement disguised as an article or news. Discussions focus on its promotional nature and suitability for the site.

5,967 comments Other

Chinese Hardware Espionage

➡️ 0.7x

Discussions center on suspicions of Chinese government or companies inserting backdoors and spy chips in hardware like servers and laptops for espionage, referencing incidents such as the Bloomberg Supermicro scandal and FBI reports on economic espionage.

5,959 comments Security

Premature Scaling Debate

📉 0.3x

Comments discuss whether startups and developers should prioritize scalability early or focus on growth until scaling issues arise, referencing Paul Graham's 'do things that don't scale' and real-world examples.

5,959 comments Startups & Business

MacOS vs Linux Switching

➡️ 0.6x

Users share personal anecdotes about switching between MacOS, Linux, and Windows, debating pros and cons like reliability, tinkering needs, hardware integration, battery life, and productivity.

5,958 comments Hardware

Health Insurance Debate

➡️ 0.8x

The cluster focuses on debates about the purpose of health insurance (catastrophic vs. routine care), misconceptions in the US system, perverse incentives for insurers, and how healthy individuals subsidize the unhealthy through premiums and regulations like the ACA.

5,957 comments Health

Open Source Licensing

➡️ 0.5x

Debate on open source licenses like MIT, GPL, and AGPL, focusing on whether companies should contribute back when profiting from permissive OSS without restrictions, and suggestions for copyleft or alternative licenses to enforce reciprocity.

5,956 comments Open Source

VR Immersion Debate

📉 0.2x

Commenters debate VR headsets' superior immersion over screens for experiences like simulations, fights, or viewing, advocating trials of VR while discussing its potential beyond gaming.

5,954 comments Hardware

Non-Native English Apologies

➡️ 0.6x

This cluster consists of comments where users apologize for or explain grammatical errors and phrasing issues because English is not their native language, often in response to corrections from others.

5,953 comments Other

Cost Concerns

📉 0.5x

Commenters debate the costs associated with a product, service, or project, frequently questioning total costs, breakdowns, justifications, and whether they are prohibitive or negligible.

5,952 comments Startups & Business

US-Only Availability Complaints

📉 0.4x

Users express disappointment that a product, service, or feature is restricted to the US or unavailable in their regions like Europe, Canada, or elsewhere, with some noting it's not yet in the US.

5,951 comments Startups & Business

Socialism Accusations Debate

➡️ 0.6x

Comments repeatedly accuse or question if a policy or idea amounts to socialism, often sarcastically, while debating definitions and distinctions from social welfare or other systems.

5,950 comments Politics & Society

Economy Mechanics Debate

➡️ 0.6x

Comments debate and criticize simplistic or flawed understandings of how economies work, questioning economic models, their priorities, and whether certain ideas align with real economic principles.

5,948 comments Politics & Society

French Language Pun

📉 0.4x

Commenters, particularly French speakers, discuss and explain a pun or wordplay in French featured in the article, debating its recognition and meaning outside French contexts.

5,946 comments Other

MySQL vs MariaDB

📉 0.3x

Comments criticize MySQL, particularly due to Oracle ownership, and advocate switching to MariaDB as a drop-in replacement or PostgreSQL as a superior alternative.

5,946 comments Databases

Perverse Incentives

📉 0.5x

Comments focus on identifying and critiquing perverse incentives or misaligned motivations in systems, businesses, or policies that lead to unintended negative outcomes. Discussions emphasize how 'you get what you incentivize' drives behavior.

5,945 comments Startups & Business

Email Client Alternatives

📉 0.3x

Users recommend and compare various email clients as alternatives to Mail.app and others like Thunderbird, MailMate, Mailspring, and Spark, highlighting features for power users such as fast search, GPG support, and open-source options.

5,945 comments Open Source

HN Downvote Complaints

➡️ 0.5x

Users complain about receiving downvotes on Hacker News, often highlighting the lack of explanations, how downvotes prove their points, or wishing for the ability to downvote.

5,944 comments Other

C# IDE Recommendations

📉 0.3x

Users debate and recommend IDEs like Visual Studio, JetBrains Rider, and VSCode for C# and .NET development, sharing experiences on performance, features, and cross-platform support.

5,943 comments Programming Languages

Space Debris and Kessler Syndrome

➡️ 0.6x

The cluster focuses on concerns about space junk, satellite collisions, and the risk of Kessler syndrome from large constellations like Starlink, debating mitigation through low orbits and rapid de-orbiting versus long-term orbital pollution.

5,942 comments Science

Sameness Assertions

➡️ 0.5x

Commenters repeatedly claim that two concepts, arguments, products, or statements are essentially the same thing, often agreeing that there's no meaningful difference.

5,941 comments Other

German Privacy Culture

📉 0.4x

The cluster debates cultural differences in Germany, particularly greater privacy consciousness, quiet social norms, and preferences for privacy in public spaces, often contrasting with experiences in the US or other countries.

5,941 comments Politics & Society

Not My Experience

📉 0.5x

Comments where users deny or refute claims by stating they have not personally observed or experienced the described issue or phenomenon.

5,938 comments Other

Customer Support Complaints

📉 0.4x

This cluster centers on complaints about poor or nonexistent customer support from tech companies and SaaS providers, where paying customers struggle to get help without publicizing issues on platforms like HN or Twitter.

5,937 comments Startups & Business

Lying Accusations Debate

➡️ 0.5x

The cluster focuses on heated debates about whether specific statements or actions constitute lying, including arguments over intent, semantics, and truthfulness.

5,937 comments Politics & Society