As a fellow geek, I like this idea but I've checked out similar systems over the years and found I could never fully get on board.. why? Because I ended up checking the source anyway to make sure I didn't miss anything that I might find interesting but that the filter filtered out anyway.

I can trust filtering for e-mail, since it wipes out non-content (usually). But filtering out content I "might not like" is tricky - I learn more about the world by being exposed to things I don't (initially) appreciate so I like to see a little noise in the mix. HN provides a sort of filtered noise that strikes just the right balance for me.