
News.yc "user" nickb is actually a sockpuppet for Paul Graham? - Alex3917
http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=152361
======
raganwald
I've waited as long as I can stand it before inserting a spoiler:

"In the early 1990s, I was writing a lot of essays and columns for magazines
and journals, so much so that I was using a pseudonym for some of that work:
Nickieben Bourbaki. The original idea for the name was that my staff at Lucid
would help with the writing, and the single pseudonym would represent the
collective, much as the French mathematicians in the 1930s used "Nicolas
Bourbaki" as their collective name while rewriting the foundations of
mathematics in their image. However, no one but I wrote anything under that
name."

<http://www.dreamsongs.com/WorseIsBetter.html>

~~~
tel
Dang. It's either that or a whole tonne of French mathematicians. Good work!

~~~
raganwald
I can't take too much credit. I bit on the story hook, line and sinker. I
started to write a comment saying in essence, "So what if Paul is writing
under a nom de plume, there are good reasons for doing so..."

One of the good examples that came immediately to mind was Richard Gabriel. So
I Googled "Worse Is Better" and copied that exact paragraph to insert as a
quotation to support my point.

Then I read what I had just pasted and the light went on...

~~~
tel
Oh, let me tell you the lead-up there is perfect—serendipitous or otherwise. I
had a smooth transition: "Really? That seems pretty interes---- oh man,
brilliant!"

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cglee
This reminds one time when I first started playing Counter Strike. I found
myself alone one night and could finally play CS without anyone bitching, so I
indulged late into the night teaming up with this very highly efficient group
of players. Their usage of team commands was incredible and I, being a newbie,
followed the better players around closely, often being the support gunner.
The teamwork was magical and you just felt the chemistry.

After a few hours, I decided to start making small talk. Then, to my horror, I
realized I had been playing with bots the entire time.

I just hope the rest of you are real.

~~~
jcl
Does it please you to just hope the rest of I are real?

------
wumi
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=143143>

5 points by nickb 10 days ago | link | parent | on: Articles, Ideas, Books
and/or Concepts that have c...

[http://www.cypress.com/portal/server.pt?space=CommunityPage&...](http://www.cypress.com/portal/server.pt?space=CommunityPage&..).

reply

2 points by pg 9 days ago | link

That's it! Thanks, Nick. I haven't seen this for 15 years.

reply

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ericb
Pseudonyms can be used to good effect. Ben Franklin used them extensively.
They're especially good for testing out or spreading ideas you'd like to have
considered apart from their source.

When I started a small social site, the first thing I did was create 40
nicknames and start talking to myself. Boot-strapping a social site is tough.
Most users leave if they see an empty site.

~~~
euccastro
I have an uncle that tried that when he opened a pub. It didn't quite work.

------
jpeterson
This thing is starting to take on an eerie "Paul is dead" aura.

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isLoginBroken
Guys, it's a joke: <http://news.ycombinator.com/threads?id=pg>

~~~
pg
Damn. Forgot that. Yes, sorry, it's an April Fools' joke. Thanks, Alex, for
helping out. The recent outage (now fixed, let's hope) is unconnected, btw.

~~~
jgrahamc
What a pity. I had been assuming for a while that nickb was a code for
'nickname b' (where pg was 'nickname a').

------
Alex3917
C.f. the whole thread here: <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=151461>

All I can say is wow. Especially after his most recent essay on intellectual
honesty. What bullshit. TechStars is looking better and better all the time.

~~~
ardit33
Chillout. Keep in mind that every website that depends on community activity,
starts as a ghost town, with fictional accounts, (which are owned by the
creators of the website) that start posting/commenting, to get it jump
started, and make new commers feel like there is a reason to stay.

Every single web 2.0 website does this, so I don't think that is dishonest.
Maybe Pg. liked the anonimity of his alter ego, nickb, and kept posting on his
name, and got carried on (and forgot to switch names). And if you see nickb,
stats, he is probably the oldest user in here.

user: nickb created: 406 days ago karma: 10982 about: My email: nickb.yc {at}
gmail.

This is the only site where I comment/post. I am not 'nickb' on any other
site.

~~~
pg
Just so we're clear on this, I _asked_ Alex to post the above. He's just
pretending to be upset.

~~~
gaika
Somehow I still feel cheated. I'm working on a social news site, and we do not
use ghost accounts or fake stats. People still suspect us doing it anyway :(
Now I know - they have a good reason to suspect _everybody_.

~~~
randallsquared
For a site like jaanix or reddit (or news.yc), there's no implicit fraud in
having lots of ghost accounts, as long as you don't include them in stats to
advertisers or whatever. People come for the content, not because others are
there.

~~~
gaika
Unlike reddit or news.yc, jaanix has a recommender that is based on implicit
trust between the users. Sock puppets destroy this trust.

~~~
randallsquared
Hm. It still seems like consistency would fix that. It would make "doing it
right" a little harder, but it could be done with no loss for normal users, I
think.

------
xirium
I can think of other explanations including April Fools Day, data corruption
and a problematic upgrade which affected accounts and logins. Alteratively,
given the essay What You Can't Say ( <http://www.paulgraham.com/say.html> )
and the recent drop in essay quality, it is possible that some essays are
ghost written.

~~~
mrtron
I have evidence that pg has been outsourcing everything, and is now working a
4 hour work week.

Willing to sell this evidence to the highest bidder, but pg has already
offered a spot in the next YC round to me. He also is throwing in tickets and
a flight down for startup school after I complained here:
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=148485>

------
mattculbreth
Has anyone seen nickb and pg at the same time in the same place?

~~~
rglullis
Has anyone seen nickb, _ever_?

~~~
nickb
I have it on good authority that if you come to Startup School in 2-3 weeks
from now, you will :)

~~~
rglullis
I'm pretty sure that the same can be said about Paul Graham.

Now I don't know if you are saying this because you are really PG in desguise
(btw, what've happened to bugbear?) or if you is really you. Damn, stop
confusing me! :)

------
asdflkj
He was probably posting from a computer at YC HQ that nickb used before him.
You people are like children.

------
Jesin
OK, April 1 is over, so which is it?

Either way, great job with the confusion.

~~~
davidw
nickb is Enoch Root.

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ardit33
oh, snap. pawn3d. I still like him thou, and I liked nickb too.

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pius
_News.yc "user" nickb is actually a sockpuppet for Paul Graham??_

I doubt it.

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pjf
If it's a joke, why nickb didn't reply in this thread? ;-)

~~~
nickb
Sorry, was too busy with work... I finally found some time and saw the thread.

~~~
anewaccountname
Good one, paul.

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jkush
April Fools?

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kirubakaran
You guys don't know anything. Chuck_Norris is pg's sock puppet.

