Would this help?: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html
> How are stories ranked?
> The basic algorithm divides points by a power of the time since a story was submitted. Comments in threads are ranked the same way.
> Other factors affecting rank include user flags, anti-abuse software, software which demotes overheated discussions, account or site weighting, and moderator action.
I think we can only assume dang is in the pocket of Big Apple
My understanding is that HN serves pages from a CDN for non-logged-in views. It is a way of reducing load on the server core that serves HN.
If that's true, then you will see a real-time front page (or a apology for not handling your request) when you are logged in and might see an older cached version of the front page if you are not logged-in.
Of course I might be wrong and there is indeed a scandalous conspiracy of nefarious skullduggery. Good luck.
I don't know if this is true for HN or not, but sometimes sites/CDNs cache non-logged-in pages more aggressively than logged-in ones.
If it is of any consolation for you, right now I'm both having problems just loading HN and seeing the beeper mini link in the front page (at #6).