

Ask HN: Help, I'm new to HN ... - Inkdryer

There's a (1) next to my username at the top right implying I have a message waiting for me. When I click on it, I'm taken to a page where I can update information but the (1) never goes away. What gives?
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EvanMiller
The (1) next to your name is your "karma", which is designed to make the
primitive hoarding and status-seeking parts of your monkey-brain feel
inadequate when no one upvotes your comments.

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Inkdryer
Ha! OK thanks for helping out. I guess we all have to start somewhere.

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SwaroopH
That's your karma. You start at 1.

<http://ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html>

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lefthansolo
Some other information. Your username will be green for some amount of time
and then turn black. If it turns black, you have either passed the trial
period and are legit or you have been ghosted, which is likely only to happen
if you either appear to be a spammer, a troll, or you don't fit in. You can
also be ghosted after your username turn black. If you try to post too much,
you will be unable to post anymore for some period of time. If you try to
create too many new users in a day by axing your account, it tracks that also.
There is cookie-based and IP based security/tracking. Don't try to say
anything funny or you will >50% of the time get downvoted- it isn't slashdot.
Don't be mean or controversial, but throw foul language in and be emotional
when you want, as long as it goes with the silicon valley flow. PG is Paul
Graham- know him and love him like the rest. He runs this place, and maybe the
world for that matter as far as HN is concerned and the world of startups as
they exist on this site.

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Inkdryer
Thank you so much for the info. Happy to be a part of it all. I've spent the
last couple of weeks reading just about everything I can get my hands on by
Paul Graham and it's all great and inspiring.

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brudgers
HN is an exception to the law of software envelopment. It does not have
private messages.

