zlacker

This thread with all these comments (the ones up when I wrote this) was posted three days ago. Here's a post that referenced it then: >>41211151

Why is it back on the front page and posted "5 hours ago"? I'm not implying underhandedness or anything but I'd like to know why this happens. Anyone know?

These are the comments it got at the time:

>>41210091

>>41210379

>>41212594

>>41210086

>>41210905

>>bulatb+(OP)
I suppose you'll find the number of licks to the center of a Tootsie Pop before you get an answer to this that makes any sense. Nonetheless, I do have hope someone will ackshually me into an explanation.

>>lagnia+e4
<del>A wizard</del> <ins>dang</ins> did it.

>>bulatb+(OP)
Second chance pool

>>26998308

>HN's second-chance pool is a way to give links a second chance at the front page. Moderators and a small number of reviewers go through old submissions looking for articles that are in the spirit of the site—gratifying intellectual curiosity—and which seem like they might interest the community. These get put into a hopper from which software randomly picks one every so often and lobs it randomly onto the lower part of the front page. If it interests the community, it gets upvoted and discussed; if not, it falls off.

>>ziddoa+Xb
> lobs it randomly onto the lower part of the front page

That is where it was. So the process posts a copy of the article and comments with the current date? But gives it the old URL?

>>bulatb+Ug
As far as I am aware, it just updates the timestamps of the original to the time of the 'lobbing'.

>>bulatb+(OP)
> I'd like to know why this happens

Reviewed by humans: https://news.ycombinator.com/pool