Just so you know, clicking on Signout gives me this:<p>Message: MySQL Query fail: SELECT * FROM follow WHERE user_id =
MySQL Error: You have an error in your SQL syntax; check the manual that corresponds to your MySQL server version for the right syntax to use near '' at line 1
Date: Wednesday, October 6, 2010 at 8:53:41 AM
Script: /index.php
Referer: <a href="http://hackerfollow.com/" rel="nofollow">http://hackerfollow.com/</a><p>Great idea, though!
Nice idea, and I can see myself using it but...<p>The "come up with a secret phrase" thing is a nice idea, but I must've sat for 10 seconds trying to work out what was actually being asked for, and then I had no idea what phrase I could use that I wouldn't forget, but that nobody else would have chosen.
So what happens when I pick a secret phrase that someone else already uses? I can technically sign in as the person who originally created it now.<p>Yes, if you do it right the chances are slim. And perhaps it doesn't matter because there isn't any sensitive data.
If you are interested, I'm charting the load (non-cached requests to HN) on the iHakcerNews API which hackerfollow is partly using.<p><a href="http://api.ihackernews.com/load" rel="nofollow">http://api.ihackernews.com/load</a>
At least show what story the comments are on. I came up with a nice way to show the context around a comment without needing the entire tree:
<a href="http://hystry.com/newsyc/follow/about" rel="nofollow">http://hystry.com/newsyc/follow/about</a> (Slide 4)<p>Make it easy to add users from the stream page.<p>I'm usually in an 'open' mindset when I think of hacker news. HackerFollow enforces a 'closed' mindset; I only see stuff from those I follow. Can you leaven the stream with suggestions like somebody else asked on this thread?<p>I could see myself using this.
I built a similar small service to follow HNers by e-mail, located at <a href="http://nasr.ath.cx" rel="nofollow">http://nasr.ath.cx</a>
Feel free to use it a report problems !
Not bad. You should add the title of the thread along with the user's comment to give context. Also please position the user's name to the left. Most HN users are in the U.S. where people read left to right. That way I can glance at the stream and recognize who said what faster.
I was only able to see recent posts/comments. I'm not sure if the API supports it (haven't looked) but would be nice to see older posts/comments as well, and agree with others about an RSS feed being a good idea.<p>In addition, an aggregate RSS feed of higher ranked HN'ers would be neat.<p>And clicking on the following without specifying a user to follow first ("logging in") doesn't work: <a href="http://hackerfollow.com/?filter=devmonk" rel="nofollow">http://hackerfollow.com/?filter=devmonk</a>
but as soon as a specify a user ("log in") it works. It should just work if it is essentially public, imo.
Suggested future modification:<p>the "follow" page lists most followed users. How about adding a section to show who, outside of the top 10-15, has gained the most new followers over the last week or so? (Obviously this is more meaningful once the service has been running for longer than a week.)<p>This would give us a way to be introduced to up-and-coming users.<p>EDIT: also, the "most followed" page currently has a user (osuburger) who has 1 karma, 0 posts, and 0 submissions. Already being gamed?
Good idea. Maybe a drop-down suggestion box (sometimes I don't know the exact name "jacquesm...?"). And currently it allows me to "follow" any gibberish I type in e.g. "kljarlkfejl".
Feature suggestion: "Follow me" URLs that users could put in their HN profiles. This would greatly ease in-context following:<p><i>Read insightful comment › Click username to profile › Click HackerFollow link</i><p>Alternatively, the best solution (though much more time-consuming to implement) for in-context following would be a browser extension that adds an HF link next to everyone's name.
Nice job. Feature request: an "all except" option that lets you to enter a list of specific users to ignore -- a HackerUnfollow feature, if you will.<p>Not that there are any annoying people on this site.
For an outlandish feature, try grabbing links out of one's follow stream, to create a separate stream. Like this: <a href="http://hackerbra.in/links" rel="nofollow">http://hackerbra.in/links</a>