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Comment by krapp | Hacker News Reader

I hate to be that guy but why is a stolen truck relevant to Hacker News? Only because it's the "Internet Archive" truck? Half a million vehicles get stolen in the US every year.

There's nothing of intellectual interest here, no new phenomenon to comment on, nothing but the tech version of celebrity gossip.

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> I hate to be that guy

Then don't be that guy. Easy.

I like to read news about things that happen to the organisations I care about, and evidently at least 123 other visitors of this website like that too.

And I'm going to be that that guy and say you didn't have to look at this story, let alone leave a comment. Like I didn't have to read your comment and leave a comment, but I did nonetheless. Are you and I really so different?

I remember there was some text on the goatse.cx website that used to read "if the image above offends you, simply don't look at it." Below the... shock image. Yeah.

Even the most mundane stuff can generate interesting discussion. From the current comments I've already learned a bunch about car tracking systems as well as the topic of theft. And yes the theft being related to the Internet Archive is notable because of the contents of the truck, as well as its prominent paint job. Maybe you couldn't find much in the story, and that's okay, but I see the phenomenon of truck theft, of archive services themselves losing data, of the susceptibility of physical media compared to digital, and more. I can't find it right now but I'm reminded of a comic in which a group has to repeatedly watch a video of a politician eating a sandwich, and eventually they become critics of the smallest details like the mayonnaise in a specific frame.

I believe this is the one you're looking for: https://xkcd.com/915/

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