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HN users usually love to do an "ackshually".

I'm surpised nobody has commented that the title of the this post is clearly bait/wrong and should be renamed to indicate that the USB-C protocol is not curing insect bites but instead a device that uses the protocol is.

Maybe because its not from a major news publication site?




I've always wondered about the people who do this. Do they realise what the purpose of a headline is? It is to encourage the reader to invest time in a story. Usually that involves summarising it down to the bare minimum while still making it interesting.

I suppose I could have written "You'll never believe how this USB gadget cures holiday nightmares!" but that does feel like click-bait.

I considered writing "A gadget which is powered by USB-C cures the common effects of mosquito bites in a sample size of 1" but that felt needlessly verbose.

So, my question back to you is this - how would you rewrite the headline? What short sentence would you use which maximises the twin constrains of accuracy and brevity?


I would say that the interesting part of this article is that you can treat mosquito bites with hyperthermia. Anyone who's had any contact with technology already knows that you can power electronic devices via USB.


Perhaps it's because "ackshually" USB-C is not a protocol. It's a connector form factor.

The fact that "HN users" are "ackshually" not a big blob of identical people but rather a pretty diverse group might also count a little.




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