

Rid yourself of long email threads with micromobs - ajaykam
http://mashable.com/2011/03/01/micromobs/

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ajaykam
It turns out to be a pretty complicated problem. Every single email client and
device formats email forwards differently. The technical challenge is to take
the input from a fwd'd thread, account for which client it's coming from and
then reformat it in a way that makes sense. Not to mention the fact that the
text towards the bottom of a forwarded thread (the earliest messages) is messy
and can be difficult to comprehend. Parsing garbage and turning it into
something useful is a hell of a challenge.

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nzmsv
It actually does look kinda interesting. But what's with all the spambot
comments?

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jaredhansen
I don't think they're bots. I recognize about half the names, and though they
may not be regular HN contributors, they're real people (some of 'em, at
least).

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Ysx
Definitely some spam: the trevania, salimmadjd and gavrielh accounts were
created less than 30 minutes ago. Billshander has had an account for some
time, but only posted in this and one other Micromobs thread, both less than
30 minutes ago.

It's distasteful.

~~~
jedwhite
I think it's worth differentiating between spam accounts, and new accounts.
They are not the same thing.

I'm sure that a lot of the folks on HN are here because someone in a startup
emailed the other folks they know in startups and said "check out my thread on
HN and give me a vote". That's how I first found out about it and YC.

Spam might be distasteful, but I don't think there is anything distasteful
about someone from a startup introducing other startup founders to the site
and asking them to get involved. It might take new members of the community a
while to learn the rules, but there is no innate correlation between being new
and being a spammer. And HN isn't normally an elitist place where length of
tenure implies respectability. I don't think anyone wants to see it turn into
the tech community equivalent of a country club.

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satyajit
Next challenge for Micromobs is to import HN thread to a mob. #Hackermob

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markdodo
love the service.

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krassif
Great service!

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citizenkeys
micromobs is a useful way to move email threads to a discussion forum.

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trevania
Vanquishing the "reply all" button. Go micromobs!

~~~
molecularhack
Amen!

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billshander
Micromobs is great - definitely helps keep my email sane!

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gavrielh
Killer application - it's a real game changer.

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salimmadjd
Love the service, I think this will be the tipping point year for micromobs

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mmayernick
Really clever! I guess the challenge would be keeping users in the group
rather than reverting back to email the next time a big discussion is about to
start. Are there tools to keep users updated? Like a daily digest maybe?

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asterix
I have been using micromobs and like their service. It is a crowded space, so
hope they can iterate on functionality quickly enough to find their sweet spot

