

PCalc Prevents iPhone Calculator Profanity - mbrubeck
http://www.dragthing.com/blog/?p=285

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ugh
This is really great on several levels: it helps the app to stand out among
all those other calculators and it is a subtle little criticism of Apple’s
review process.

~~~
brianobush
but is it worth being on the front page of HN? Maybe for reddit, but I come
here looking for HN-specific topics.

~~~
ugh
PR hacking sure deserves to be on the front page of HN. Flag it if you don’t
agree.

~~~
brianobush
If this is PR, it will be lost with the masses (for whom PR is meant for).
This feature neither falls into the hacking nor PR camp. Easter egg, maybe.
Useless feature, definitely.

~~~
ugh
PR is, first and formost, directed at journalists or anyone who can reach a
wider public. And on that front it succeded. Massivly. Look here:
[http://news.google.de/news/more?cf=all&ned=us&cf=all...](http://news.google.de/news/more?cf=all&ned=us&cf=all&ncl=dbuIfkkvjwgP4EMi21B1hOxAhjbkM)

And that doesn't include all the blogs that picked it up. Getting this much
publicity with a non-feature (complete with a caricature of a press release)
is impressive. Just one example: this is the first time tuaw.com writes about
the iPhone version of Pcalc. It could have written about the app when it was
released or when new versions came out. It did not. And it's not as though the
developer didn't try: <http://www.dragthing.com/blog/?p=172>

If you can't take the direct route, take the indirect one. And know what
journalists value. Not the one-millionth calculator but childish easter eggs.
Mission accomplished.

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durin42
Site went down, but coral cache has it:
<http://www.dragthing.com.nyud.net/blog/?p=285>

------
pohl
My dad, may he rest in peace, loved to order things from HeathKit, bust out
the soldering iron, and go to town. One of the smaller projects was one of
these:

<http://www.wass.net/manuals/jpg/Heathkit%20IC-2009.jpg>

I was young, but I remember one day when a friend of the family came over, I
caught them giggling. One of them must have been telling the other one an
early version of this joke...

<http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=55378008>

...because I recall clearly the result being 55378008.

This is a great easter egg. I wonder if it recognizes this number too.

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devicenull
This seems like a rather useless feature in my opinion... If you're easily
offended, why do things that would offend yourself. The other "user group" is
elementary school students, and how many of those have an iPhone they will be
downloading calculators for?

~~~
colonelxc
It's a joke, making fun of Apple's approval process.

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anigbrowl
Yes, but when will this be in PCalc for OS X?

~~~
colonelxc
Maybe they'll release it for the laptops, which do have accelerometers in
them.

from a simple google search: <http://chancechancellor.com/?p=337>

