Why Seth Godin doesn't have comments on his blog:

"First, I feel compelled to clarify or to answer every objection or to point out every flaw in reasoning. Second, it takes way too much of my time to even think about them, never mind curate them. And finally, and most important for you, it permanently changes the way I write. Instead of writing for everyone, I find myself writing in anticipation of the commenters."

http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2006/06/why_i_dont_have.html

"I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody." Bill Cosby

"Why do these headlines suck so much? Fear. Fear of saying too much. Fear of saying something clever that someone might think is stupid. Fear of saying something revealing that might turn someone off. The headlines try desperately not to exclude anyone. In doing so, they succeed at boring everyone."

Reminds me of Kathy Sierra.

Very true, she's had some effective illustrations of why you never want to be in the bland middle. For one thing, that's where all the big companies are, by necessity.

Hey, death threats aren't funny, and being afraid of a death threat is something very different from being afraid that taking a stance might hurt your bottom line.

Sorry, I was referring to posts like this from Kathy: http://headrush.typepad.com/creating_passionate_users/2006/10/dilbert_and_the.html

Oops -- sorry that I misunderstood so completely what you were saying! Thanks for the explanation :-)

YC News participants are so civil -- very refreshing. Benja's apology is a great example of that.

Very complex topic that I don't think the author evaluated thoroughly enough.

This advice sounds applicable outside of this example case though.

I have received many of of emails complaining about the insensitivity of the name "RunFatBoy.net".

Good or bad, RunFatBoy has enough shock value to make people take notice. And if I can make them take notice, hopefully with a sincere product, I can win them over.