I'm not trying to be disrespectful. But do you not think forcefully changing the entire title without any warning and removing my editing privilege is a bit of overkill for a single word that YOU found to be offensive? You could have simply asked me to edit it, and I would have changed the title in a fashion that did not use the word "killer" and still reflected the relevant Anybot connection. Currently if you do a search for "anybot" in Google, the first link is a story about this DIY bot with a picture of Johnny Lee.
... do you not think [it] ... is a bit of overkill for a single word that YOU found to be offensive?
No, I don't. The value of Hacker News is in the self-moderation that we all make to keep the signal high and the noise low. But, you've jumped the shark in this case because I am not an admin and didn't edit your title. So evidently there are at least TWO people who found your title to be in need of rewording.
Anybots isn't going to be killed by a netbook strapped to a Roomba. Trevor et al are doing fundamental engineering for creating large, capable, humanoid robots. The Roomba won't even work on shag carpeting, let alone cary a payload over terrain. The real Anybots killer, as with statistically all startups, is the current lack of demand for humanoid robots. Without a demand for its product, a product company can't last forever.
But I still wouldn't call that an Anybots "killer".
I think you are missing the point of my question. I do not have a problem with the removal of the word "killer" from the title. It was more or less a tongue in cheek tactic to attract attention. I (and I would think most HN readers) do not actually believe that this DIY bot would "kill" Anybot. The problem I was trying to pointing out is that someone went around the normal democratic system (up/down votes) HN provides to moderate signal to noise. I can understand in extremely offensive cases there would be a need for admin to step beyond the normal democratic system and lock/remove/edit a thread. But do you honestly and without the slightest reservations believe that this is such extreme case? If so what is the problem that you see with my suggested alternative, where I am first asked to edit the title myself before it is forcefully changed without any warning or explanation? Additionally, do you think removing my editing privilege to prevent further changes is really necessary? Finally, what is your opinion on the idea of free speech, where anyone can say anything about anything without the fear of someone coming to forcefully change/censor their words?
Comments
I'm not trying to be disrespectful. But do you not think forcefully changing the entire title without any warning and removing my editing privilege is a bit of overkill for a single word that YOU found to be offensive? You could have simply asked me to edit it, and I would have changed the title in a fashion that did not use the word "killer" and still reflected the relevant Anybot connection. Currently if you do a search for "anybot" in Google, the first link is a story about this DIY bot with a picture of Johnny Lee.
... do you not think [it] ... is a bit of overkill for a single word that YOU found to be offensive?
No, I don't. The value of Hacker News is in the self-moderation that we all make to keep the signal high and the noise low. But, you've jumped the shark in this case because I am not an admin and didn't edit your title. So evidently there are at least TWO people who found your title to be in need of rewording.
Anybots isn't going to be killed by a netbook strapped to a Roomba. Trevor et al are doing fundamental engineering for creating large, capable, humanoid robots. The Roomba won't even work on shag carpeting, let alone cary a payload over terrain. The real Anybots killer, as with statistically all startups, is the current lack of demand for humanoid robots. Without a demand for its product, a product company can't last forever.
But I still wouldn't call that an Anybots "killer".
I think you are missing the point of my question. I do not have a problem with the removal of the word "killer" from the title. It was more or less a tongue in cheek tactic to attract attention. I (and I would think most HN readers) do not actually believe that this DIY bot would "kill" Anybot. The problem I was trying to pointing out is that someone went around the normal democratic system (up/down votes) HN provides to moderate signal to noise. I can understand in extremely offensive cases there would be a need for admin to step beyond the normal democratic system and lock/remove/edit a thread. But do you honestly and without the slightest reservations believe that this is such extreme case? If so what is the problem that you see with my suggested alternative, where I am first asked to edit the title myself before it is forcefully changed without any warning or explanation? Additionally, do you think removing my editing privilege to prevent further changes is really necessary? Finally, what is your opinion on the idea of free speech, where anyone can say anything about anything without the fear of someone coming to forcefully change/censor their words?